Haze from forest fires blankets areas in Riau

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)