FIRMS MUST BE PUSHED TO RESTORE BURNED LANDS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 20 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has the commitment to restore the country's land areas damaged by the land and forest fires in 2015, which burned over 2 million hectares and inflicted financial losses worth Rp220 trillion.          In a bid to accelerate the restoration of burned land, notably peatlands, the government has set up the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) to manage efforts for restoring damaged land areas.          Restoration of damaged land within a concession area must be carried out by companies holding the concession permits. The burned lands become the full responsibility of the concessionaires.          Hence, corporations which have so far tapped and enjoyed the benefit of the concession forests must carry out restoration of the damaged areas, and the government must take firm actions against those that are negligent.          "Weak and less serious law enforcement on violations in the environment sector will result in excessive damage," lawmaker and member of Commission VII on environmental affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR), Rofi Munawar, said in a statement in Jakarta on Friday (Feb 17).          Moreover, the damages caused to land and forest areas due to fires in 2015 are vast. Forest and plantation fires had affected 2.089 million hectares of area and inflicted financial losses worth Rp220 trillion in 2015.

RIAU PROVINCE VOWS TO BE HAZE-FREE THIS YEAR

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 24 (Antara) - Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman, whose province in recent years had been one of the main haze contributors due to forest and land fires in Sumatra, vowed on Monday to make his province smog-free this year.          To support his commitment to protect his province from haze, the governor called on all sides and the public around the forest areas to help support his efforts to prevent forests and land from fires.          "Thank God, last year, the haze was significantly reduced compared to the previous years during the dry season because of the efforts of all sides in carrying out prevention measures," Rachman said in a press statement made available to Antara in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, on Monday.          This year, the governor is committed to take preventive measures by declaring a forest-and-land fire emergency alert status.          Earlier in the day, the governors of Riau and other provinces were invited to attend a national coordination meeting on forest fire prevention in Jakarta. In the meeting, President Jokowi reminded ministers and regional authorities to remain vigilant against forest fires, starting from early this year.

GOVT SHOULD IDENTIFY MAIN CULPRITS OF LAND FIRES AND HAZE

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 7 (Antara) - The government needs to identify the main culprits behind the land fires and haze that have caused health problems and hindered daily activities in Indonesia and the neighboring countries.         The main culprits of forest and bush fires must be identified to ascertain whether they are plantation companies, nomadic farmers, or individuals, so that effective steps can be taken to overcome the problems.          Environment expert Mohammad Hasroel of the University of Indonesia affirmed that the haze in several parts of the country was caused by land clearing activities for conducting rice farming.          However, according to the environmental forum Walhi, most of the hotspots in Indonesia are found in the concession areas of companies.         The environmental forum pointed out that from January to September 2015, the Institute of National Aviation and Space (LAPAN) recorded 16,334 hotspots, while the NASA FIRM noted 24,086 cases of fires in the five provinces of Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra, and Riau.

WHAT NEXT AFTER LANDSLIDES, FLOODS?

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, Feb 4 (Antara) - Indonesia has been struck by 203 natural disasters in January 2014,  claiming 178 lives and forcing 1.2 million others to evacuate with an estimated loss of Rp2 trillion, revealed the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (PNPB).          The major natural disasters striking various parts of the country include the floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains, besides volcanic eruptions, particularly the MT Sinabung eruptions in North Sumatra.          While the rains are expected to abate and floodwaters will subside in some parts of the country by March, drought-related forest fires have begun taking their toll in other parts of the country such as the Riau and Central Kalimantan provinces.          The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Kotawaringin Timor (Kotim) District, Central Kalimantan, has declared a forest fire alert status following the emergence of several hotspots in the province during the past one week.          "We have declared the alert status after discovering several hotspots, which we believe have emerged due to land and forest fires  in the Kotawaringin Timur District," Sanggol Lumban Gaol, acting chief of BPBD Kotim, stated on Monday.          He noted that the forest fire alert status in the Kotim district, Central Kalimantan, was set to increase awareness among all sides regarding the dangers of forest fires, so that they would stay on alert.