Motorists and motorcyclists drive on Jl. Sudirman in Pekanbaru, Riau, which is blanketed by haze from forest fires, on Saturday (10/8/2019). Haze has hung over Pekanbaru city for more than a week, and the Riau Health Agency has urged residents to limit outdoor activities and wear protective masks.
The efforts to put out forest and land fires are being conducted by many parties in the field, both on land and in the air. However, fires are still severe and the peak of the dry season has not yet passed.
PEKANBARU, KOMPAS — Forest and peatland fires in a number of areas have yet to be fully tamed. Thus, as the dry season has not yet peaked and with strong winds in a number of locations, fires are still a real threat to the health of residents, the environment and flora and fauna.
A number of areas have also experienced repeated fires in places where they had previously been extinguished, such as in the area of the Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN) in the administrative area of Air Hitam village, Ukui district, Pelalawan regency, Riau. Fires broke out again in an area of encroachment that had been extinguished a week earlier by a joint team of the Manggala Agni, Indonesian Military (TNI)-National Police and PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper staff.
"Possibly the fire came from sparks from the wood stumps that were burning or were not put out completely at that time," said TNTN head Halasan Tulus, who was contacted from Pekanbaru, Monday (12/8/2019).
However, he did not dismiss the possibility that the fire was intended by the encroachers. On Saturday (3/8), Kompas was at the site of the fire. At that time, the encroachers were preparing to plant cassava.
In Central Kalimantan, the haze from land and forest fires blanketed the city of Palangkaraya yesterday. Elementary and middle school students were sent home. "Those who have already come to school can go back and study at home," said Palangkaraya Education Agency head Sahdin Hasan.
Hot spots encircle Palangkaraya city. On the south side of the city, namely the Jl. Mahir-Mahar and the Sabaru area, the fire had burned out. On the west side, Jl. Tjilik Riwut caught fire in the past week, while in the north and east in the Pahandut area and on the border with Pulang Pisau, there have been fires this month.
From Sunday to Monday evening, smog remained over Palangkaraya. The smell of thick smoke spread throughout the city. On Monday afternoon, the haze was not too visible. However, at around 3 p.m., the haze got thicker.
In the past week, the air quality in Palangkaraya was in the dangerous category at 495 micrograms of particles per cubic meter (PM10). The normal safe limit for PM10 is 100 micrograms per cubic meter.
"The governor of Central Kalimantan has also made an appeal to the community not to engage in outdoor activities," said Environment Agency acting head Norliani.
Elephants evacuated
Separately, the head of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) in Riau, Edwar Sanger, revealed that the fires in TNTN were not only in Air Hitam village. Fires also occurred in Lubuk Kembang Bunga village, not far from Air Hitam.
The fires began to surround the Elephant Flying Squad elephant reservation run by WWF Indonesia in Lubuk Kembang Bunga. The team and the eight elephants that are often used to prevent conflict between wild elephants and local residents have been evacuated across the river safely.
By Monday morning, more than 182 hectares of land near the elephant reservation were ablaze and could not be extinguished. "Tomorrow we’ll check again. Hopefully there will be no strong winds," said Nurcholis Fadli, manager for Rimba Upper Kampar Tesso Nilo Landscape, WWF Indonesia.
Yesterday, it rained in the city of Pekanbaru and other areas, such as Siak and Mandau (Bengkalis) but this did not extinguish the fires.
Previously, said Edwar Sanger, a fire had broken out in Toro Jaya hamlet within the TNTN area. "We sent Mi8 helicopters to help put out the fire in the TNTN," he said.
Kuala Renangan hamlet and Toro hamlet are the largest centers of encroachment in TNTN. There are at least 3,000 families living with public facilities and infrastructure, such as markets and schools.
In addition to Pekanbaru, forest and land fires have also affected Aceh. In Nagan Raya regency, after firefighting from the air and light rain over the past few days, peatland fires have gradually been extinguished. However, personnel remain on alert. Fires in Aceh over these two months have burned 185 hectares.
ANTARA FOTO/RONY MUHARRMAN
Muslims listen to a sermon after performing Idul Adha (Islamic Day of Sacrifice) prayer in the courtyard of Annur Grand Mosque as haze blankets the city of Pekanbaru, Riau, Sunday (11/8/2019). The haze, which stems from forest fires in Riau, is choking the city of Pekanbaru and several regencies.
Responding to the threat of forest and land fires, and in line with the intentions of President Joko Widodo, on Monday afternoon TNI commander Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Indonesian National Police chief Tito Karnavian, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, as well as BNPB chief Lt. Gen. Doni Monardo arrived in Pekanbaru. The four state officials wanted to see first hand the conditions in the field.
Nationally, the threat of forest and land fires is still high. In Central Kalimantan, for example, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency forecasts the peak of the dry season will be from the end of August to the end of September. "There will still be around 31-60 days without rain in the near future, such as in the cities of Palangkaraya, South Barito, Seruyan and Katingan," said the head of Data and Information Section of the Palangkaraya Meteorological Station, Anton Budiono. (SAH/IDO/AIN/ICH)
