Haze from forest fires blankets areas in Riau

JAKARTA (JP): Thick haze from forest fires has blanketed some regencies in Riau province over the last few weeks, Antara reported Saturday from Pekanbaru.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) located 27 hot spots in the province from satellite images on Feb. 10.

The head of the provincial forestry office, Darminto Suteno, said Saturday that fires were still razing forests along the Minas-Dumai highway, Dumai-Pakning in Simpang Batang, Tanah Putih, Sungai Nilo, Pematang Reba, Pangkalan Kerinci and forests near the province's capital Pekanbaru.

Darminto said his office would deploy a helicopter and crews to investigate the fires and to ascertain if any companies were responsible for slash and burn activities.

Fires, started by large plantation companies and farmers to clear land, spread uncontrollably in Sumatra and Borneo last year due to the prolonged dry season, believed to have been the worst in 50 years.

Millions of people suffered from respiratory problems as smoke blanketed many provinces in the two giant islands.

The haze also spread to neighboring Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

"We hope that private plantations won't stay passive when they find fires nearby but help the government extinguish them," Darminto said.

With the start of rainy season in January, the haze dissipated to some extent. However, fires continued to ravage tens of thousands of hectares of forest in Kalimantan, especially East Kalimantan, because substantial rains have yet to fall there.

"With the reemergence of the forest fires, we need to reactivate the task force to monitor forest fires in Riau province," Darminto noted.

Last month, NOAA reported seven hot spots in Bengkalis, Kampar and Indragiri Hilir regencies.

"We don't want to have another haze disaster. We will deploy our own fire fighters and have also asked for assistance from private companies, including PT RAPP and PT Indo Sawit Subur," said Darminto.

The severe drought has mainly been caused by the El Nio weather phenomenon originating in the Pacific Ocean.

The nation is currently suffering from severe food shortages as most rice fields lacked enough water to be cultivated last year.

"Many companies just use slash and burn methods in clearing their lands. We will not hesitate to punish them if they are found guilty even if they are foreign companies," Darminto promised.

He said the January government decision to reopen the palm oil sector to foreign investment would prompt more land clearing in the province.

Park

Meanwhile, it was reported from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Friday that fires that flared up again in the province last month have affected about 1,600 hectares of the 200,000-hectare Kutai National Park.

Fires, which started in various locations several weeks ago, are now just 10 kilometers away from Bontang oil and gas fields, Deputy Governor Suwarna AF said.

He said fires had razed an estimated 3,800 hectares of forests throughout East Kalimantan.

The local government has pointed the finger at farmers practicing the slash-and-burn farming technique.

Two Air Force C-160 Transal airplanes sprayed on Friday chemical liquid to control fires in Bontang, where a research center was also under threat.

Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, who witnessed the operation with State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, expressed concern over the extent of the disaster.

He said cooperation was needed between the government and the public to bring the fires under control.

The minister said the government has allocated Rp 1 billion ($125,000) this year to put out fires in Kalimantan and elsewhere in Indonesia.

Most of the funds go to the fire fighting in Kutai National Park, he added.

Sarwono said the fires were a natural disaster, although some companies and people were also to blame for starting them when they cleared land for their projects.

The local government has listed 17 concessionaires in the province as possible culprits in the disaster.

According to the German-sponsored Integrated Forest Fires Management (IFFM-GTZ), the destruction of the 20,000 area happened only this month.

Ludwig Schindler, IFFM-GTZ's chief, said the fires in the national park were caused by about 400 nomadic farmers in the area, clearing land for farming.

The Environmental Impact Management Agency in Jakarta also suspects that the recent fires, many of which are in plantations and logging concessions, were deliberately set. (prb/42/aan)