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.
The people, plantation firms, and mining companies are banned from
practicing slash-and-burn for clearing up land areas. All parties
intending to start a plantation or agricultural land must report to and
seek permits from the village or subdistrict officials.
Sanggol explained that the BPBD Kotim office had set up command posts
to control forest and land fires. In the Sampit City of Kotim, the
disaster mitigation agency set up the command post at its headquarters.
"Although the rains are still continuing, but they are of low
intensity. However, the temperature tends to remain high, which can
trigger land and forest fires. We have also urged all the district and
village officials to increase alertness, in an effort to protect and
control forest and land fires," he remarked.
In West Kalimantan, a thick haze reportedly covered the West Kalimantan provincial capital of Pontianak, on Tuesday.
"I was outside last night and nearly fainted due to the thick haze. My
eyes were also sore," a local resident, 40-year-old Yayan pointed out.
The haze has blanketed the Pontianak city during the past two days,
Yayan added. The haze got thicker by 6 p.m. on Monday.
"The haze is also thicker during dawn, especially between 6 and 7.30 a.m.," Yayan claimed.
Since early this month, hotspots have also emerged in Sumatra's Riau
Province. It is forecast that over 100 hectares of plantations have been
affected by the fires. A number of hotspots have been detected in the
past four days.
Yet, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of
Pekanbaru states that the number of hotspots detected so far have
declined.
"Last weekend, the Terra and Aqua satellite detected 70 hotspots, which
later declined to 61 hotspots, and now only eight hotpots are
remaining," Ardhitama, analyst at Pekanbaru's BMKG station claimed on
Monday. Most of the hotspots were detected in the Palalawan District,
he added.
Arthitama remarked that on Saturday, the Terra and Aqua satellite
detected 93 hotspots or areas of intense heat, which are indicative of
forest fires.
"The largest number of forest fires has been
detected in Bengkalis," he pointed out. In the Bengkalis district, 52
hotspots were detected in the plantation, forest, and farming areas, he
elaborated.
The Pelalawan district has 18 hotspots, while Siak has 16. Indragiri
Hilir has four hotspots, Duma has three, while Rokan Hilir has one
hotspot.
In the meantime, Head of Bengkalis's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD)
Muhammad Jalal remarked that his agency has been encountering
difficulties in extinguishing the forest and land fires in the Bengkalis
District, where most of the hotspots in Riau Province were identified.
"We have taken all the necessary measures to reduce the emergence of
hotspots. We have also combed through land areas to identify locations
that have caught fire," Mumammad Jalal noted on Monday.
He
explained that the fires had burnt about one hundred hectares of forest
and plantations. The fires have been going on sporadically since the
end of January 2014.
"With
the support of the plantation companies and the Ministry of Forestry,
we have succeeded in extinguishing a number of hotspots. They re-emerged
as there were no rains," Jalal claimed.
As of now, the BPBD team is still conducting combing operations using pickup tools in the areas that have caught fire.
"But
we are facing constraints in finding water. There is no water in
several fire-affected areas. The water canals are all empty," Jalal
noted.
In an effort to curb incidents of forest and land fires in the country,
the central government, through the Ministry of Forestry, has set a
permissible limit of 19,316 hotspots in 2014.
Director of Forest Fire Control Affairs of the Ministry of Forestry
Affairs Raffles B. Panjaitan stated on Thursday, last week that his
ministry is committed to reduce the forest fires by 20 percent per annum
as compared to the average forest fires recorded between 2005 and 2009.
The average hotspots during the period were recorded at 58,890.
"The permissible limit of hotspots this year is set at 19,316. But, we
hope that the number of hotspots across the country this year will be
below this limit," the director general emphasized.
To achieve the target, the people are expected to stay vigilant,
although Indonesia is still experiencing the rainy season.
Based on the data received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), the number of hotspots detected in Kalimantan,
Sumatra, and Sulawesi stood at 19,353 in 2013.
The land and forest fires in the year 2013 led to strained relations
between Indonesia and its neighboring countries due to the haze emitted
as a result of the forest fires.
Last year, the Indonesian government declared a state of emergency in
the Riau province, on June 21, after heavy smog blanketed parts of the
Sumatra Island, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Although it appeared as an extraordinary haze, the forest fires in
Indonesia in the year 2013 were still considered to be well under
control, with the number of hotspots still below the limit set by the
forestry ministry.
The haze arising from land-clearing fires often degrades the air
quality, triggers health problems for some people, and reduces
visibility in affected areas, especially in parts of Sumatra and the
Kalimantan Islands.
In 2013, the Ministry of Forestry set a target of reducing the number
of hotspots to 24,027 or by 59.2 percent of the average figure of
recorded in the period between 2005 and 2009, which were 58,890
hotspots.
Raffles stressed that the forest and land fires should be reduced to
the lowest possible level, as forest fires lead to major losses.
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(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 04-02-2014 16: |
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