9-10-2023 (JAKARTA) President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, has announced that he has instructed the military and the police to take immediate action against forest fires following complaints from neighboring countries about the hazardous smoke impacting air quality.
Speaking to reporters in Jakarta on Saturday, President Jokowi acknowledged that where there is fire, there will be smoke, and with wind, it can spread anywhere. He emphasized that he has directed the military chief and the police to address every hotspot, regardless of its size.
Singapore and Malaysia have expressed concerns about the thick haze caused by the fires. Singapore recorded air pollution readings above 100, denoting an “unhealthy” level, in the central and eastern parts of the island. However, the readings decreased to 96 by 2 p.m. yesterday. Similarly, 13 areas in Peninsular Malaysia reported unhealthy air quality, with the highest reading of 163 in Melaka and Batu Pahat, according to Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index.
Haze has been a recurring problem in Southeast Asia, impacting tourism, causing respiratory illnesses, and incurring significant economic losses for local economies. It is primarily caused by natural or man-made fires during the dry season. Many of these fires result from illegal burning practices aimed at clearing land for lucrative crops such as palm oil, despite government efforts to combat these activities.
Typically, the fires are most severe during the peak of the dry season in August and September. However, in years affected by El Nino, rains are often delayed, allowing the burning to persist into October and beyond. In mid-September, nearly 3,000 hotspots were detected in Indonesia, with Sumatra and Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo) accounting for over two-thirds of them, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
President Jokowi noted that the current prolonged dry season has resulted in above-normal heat. He compared the situation to previous instances of severe haze, highlighting that Indonesia is better equipped to manage the fires compared to countries like the US and Canada, where similar incidents occur. In 2015, during a strong El Nino, the region experienced a significant haze episode, with approximately 2.6 million hectares burned and the haze persisting for weeks. Researchers from Harvard and Columbia universities estimated that the haze caused over 100,000 premature deaths. The El Nino event in 1997 witnessed nearly double the amount of land burned.
The Indonesian weather bureau has predicted that the wet season may be delayed until late October or November in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and possibly as late as December in certain parts of the country.
