Riau authorities fed up with continuing forest fires
Riau authorities fed up with continuing forest fires
PEKANBARU, Riau (JP): The Riau provincial administration is
demanding that Minister of Forestry and Plantations Nurmahmudi
Ismail revoke for good operating permits of errant companies
holding forest concession which have caused fires.
Most of the haze now afflicting the province is a result of
fires set by the companies, deputy Riau governor Rustam S. Abrus
said here on Wednesday.
He made the statements after a meeting with officials of the
Forest Fire Control Center, non-governmental organizations,
journalists and Law and Order Team members.
"We want the minister to revoke the companies' permits. It is
the minister who has the right to give such administrative
punishment, and he has given his word for that," Abrus was quoted
by Antara news agency as saying.
Forest concession holders have long been blamed for their
habit of clearing new reforestation areas by burning.
The forest fires have evoked catastrophe not only for
Indonesians, but also those living in neighboring countries,
including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Protests have been launched by the people there, but the
Indonesian government still has not found an appropriate formula
to stop the annual forest fire problem that causes serious air
pollution.
"If the minister fails to take prompt and appropriate steps,
the companies will continue to operate and the haze problems will
linger," Abrus said.
He said he hoped that the minister would summon the companies'
owners, and that the governor, regents and mayors would summon
the companies' on-site officials in their jurisdictions.
According to the head of the Forestry Ministry's provincial
office in Riau, Darminto Soetono, in the period July 1 to July 14
there were 340 fires in 71 areas belonging to forestry and
plantation firms, and locals.
"Until July 14, we have sent first written warnings to six
companies for their ignorance, and a second warning to one
company," he said.
He said that 16 fire-related cases have been legally processed
in court in the 1997-98 period, while in 1999 three people were
punished for causing forest fires.
"This year six cases are being processed for legal proceedings
for similar offenses," Darminto said.
Region
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Wednesday that thin smog from
Indonesia hit southern Thailand.
In the first reports of smoke and haze in almost three years,
the Thai meteorological office said air quality and visibility
had deteriorated in the southern provinces of Songkhla,
Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani over the last week.
Airborne particulate matter of less than 10 microns was
measured in the southern town of Hat Yai on Tuesday at 65
micrograms per cubic meter, a level considered safe, an official
at the local health department said.
"It would be considered harmful if it exceeded 120 micrograms
per cubic meter," the official said.
Reports from Kuala Lumpur said that smog over northern
Malaysia caused by forest fires in Indonesia abated on Wednesday,
leaving just one area registering unhealthy levels of air
quality.
Three northern states, including the resort island of Penang,
have been swathed in smoke since Friday. But on Wednesday they
reported that air quality levels were no longer unhealthy,
environmental officials said. "As of today, Taiping is the only
place in the peninsula which is declared unhealthy," said an
official at the department of environment in Kuala Lumpur.
Officials from the Olympic Council of Asia are visiting
Malaysia to consider its bid to host the 2006 Asian Games and
government officials said they privately feared the smog could
ruin Malaysia's chances.
Officials in the northern state of Kedah said the air quality
had improved to "moderate" from "unhealthy."
A reading between zero and 50 is considered to be "good", 51
to 100 is "moderate" and above 100 is considered unhealthy.
Malaysia's Environment Minister Law Hieng Deng said on Tuesday
he had told his Indonesian counterpart that Malaysia was
concerned about the smog. (sur)