Forest fire, haze links are ‘hazy’: Govt

Forest fire, haze links are ‘hazy’: Govt

22 October 2010

published by www.thejakartapost.com

The Indonesian government said Thursday it was unclear if the haze that has blanketed Singapore and Malaysia over the last two days originated in Indonesia — despite statements from the countries blaming the haze on fires in Riau province.

The Environment Ministry said it found no significant increase in fire hot spots in Riau or in any other Indonesian province this week.

“We have not determined if the source is from fires in Riau. We still need to check,” Environment Ministry deputy minister for environmental communication and people’s empowerment Ilyas Asaad told reporters at a press conference.

“It is still a one-sided complaint from Singapore or Malaysia,” Ilyas said, in response to statements that the haze had come from Indonesia.

Reuters reported from Kuala Lumpur that haze prompted Malaysian authorities to alert vessels in the Malacca Strait of poor visibility and to order school closures.

Singapore has been covered in thick smoke this week while its three-hour Pollutant Standards Index recorded a rise to an “unhealthy” range of 108 as of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT), much higher than 80 on Wednesday, which was the worst since 2006, as reported by Reuters.

However Singapore’s port and Singapore Changi Airport were still functioning as normal, according
to reports.

According to a ministry report on fire hot spots in Riau issued on Thursday, in the first week of October there were 97 hot spots in Riau.

The number jumped to 251 in the second week of October and declined to 219 in the third week before further declining on Oct. 17, when 65 hot spots were recorded in the Rokan Hilir regency.

Illyas added that the ministry had not received any official complaints from either the Malaysian or Singaporean governments.

The Malaysian government said it had ordered the closure of more than 200 schools in southern Malaysia on Thursday after a drop in air quality due to the haze from fires in Indonesia, the Associated Press reported.

Singapore environment and water resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim also expressed disappointment on the haze and told Jakarta to deal with the recurring fires.

The Forestry Ministry rejected claims that haze originated in Indonesia, saying fire hot spots were also detected in other countries, including in Malaysia, on Oct. 19.

Ministry spokesperson Masyhud said there were only 37 hot spots detected on Oct. 19 in Riau, and less than 10 hot spots were recorded in forests.

“We also recorded fire hot spots in other countries, namely 13 hot spots in Serawak [in Malaysia], 10 in the Philippines and 19 in Myanmar, so the haze in Singapore and Malaysia cannot not simply be blamed on Indonesia,” Masyhud said.

“The source of haze in the two countries would depend on wind patterns,” he added.

Forest and land fires have long been annual events in Indonesia during the dry season.

Worst air pollution: A couple sits at a promenade overlooking the haze-covered Singapore skyline on Thursday. Illegal forest clearing by burning in Sumatra, is sending haze across the Malacca Strait to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, causing the worst air pollution since 2006, said officials. Reuters/Vivek Prakash