MUARA SABAK, KOMPAS — Although haze has shrouded Jambi for more than a month, the victims have not received proper help and protection. Tens of thousands of people from children to the elderly continue to be exposed to the haze without being able to move to safer areas.
Severe fires that engulfed Sungai Buluh Peat Protection Forest and surrounding oil palm plantations have led to thick haze. The residents of six villages totaling more than 14,000 people in Mendahara Ulu district, North Tanjung Jabung regency, could do nothing despite the thick haze.
"For more than a week we have been breathing the haze. Breathing is getting increasingly difficult," said Rahmi, 61, a resident of Pematang Rahim village, Mendahara Ulu, Friday (20/9/2019). Rahmi was trying to keep his areca nut farm from being engulfed by a peatland fire 200 meters away. Even though his throat was sore and he often coughed, he had no choice but to stay there.
Most residents in the area do not wear masks. "So far there has been no masks or oxygen assistance from the government," said Mujiati, 53, a resident of Sinarwajo village. Similar conditions are experienced by the people of Dendang district, East Tanjung Jabung, which has a population of more than 15,000. They are exposed to the haze from fires in the Londerang Peat Protection Forest, oil palm and acacia plantations, as well as peat restoration areas in the region.
A number of children have been taken by their parents to the hospital in Jambi city. However, the majority of others cannot leave the villages because they cannot afford the costs.
Jambi Governor Fachrori Umar admitted that the haze had disrupted the social and economic activities of the people. So far, the Jambi provincial administration has closed 3,552 schools due to the increasingly severe haze. The health agency has been ordered to provide ambulance assistance and medical equipment to support the smooth operation of field workers in extinguishing forest and peatland fires. However, there has been no assistance for people affected by the haze.
Short-term solution
Weather modification technology operations produced rain in a number of fire locations in Sumatra and Kalimantan on Friday afternoon.
"In Riau, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan there has been rain with low-to-moderate intensity. The duration has been 15 minutes to one hour. But it has not been evenly distributed, as it is only in areas that are sprinkled with NaCl and assisted by wind direction, so not all hotspots have received rainfall," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency head Doni Monardo.
Although weather modification has shown results, this is considered a short-term solution. "Solutions in the future must be permanent. Return the moisture to peatland areas. Naturally, peatland should be swamps," said Doni. Therefore, he said the law on the use of peatland needed to be revised. Peatland should no longer be cleared for plantations so they will not cause trouble for future generations.
On the other hand, efforts to spray water on peatland in South Sumatra have been admitted to be not running optimally. The head of the South Sumatra Peatland Restoration Agency working group Onesimus Patiung said this had been caused by damage to spraying tools.
In Central Kalimantan, the Palangkaraya Attorney\'s Office said there were indications of corruption in the manufacturing of water spraying infrastructure. On Friday, the Palangkaraya Attorney\'s Office searched and confiscated documents as well as equipment that should have been used for spraying water in anticipation of peatland and forest fires. The search was carried out at the Central Kalimantan Environmental Service Agency office, the Regional Peatland Restoration Team office and the Bukit Tunggal village office.
Head of the Palangkaraya Attorney General Office’s intelligence division Mahdi Suryanto disclosed the handling of cases had entered the investigation stage. Two people involved in the manufacturing of water spraying infrastructure have been examined, but no suspects have been determined. "Now there is a haze disaster, but many water spraying tools are not functioning. Therefore, we confiscated them," he said. (ITA/NSA/RAM/ESA/IDO/ICH/AIK)