Haze is back. If it were a book, the storyline would be predictable — the incidents escalate during the dry season, there are protests, fire trucks are deployed — and that is it. Next year, it is the same story all over again.
Again, haze has sparked diplomatic tension, with Singapore suffering from the worst air pollution in 16 years, reportedly with some of the worst readings since the 1997 regional haze crisis. The pollution has also enveloped some parts of Malaysia.
The pollution, again blamed on illegal slash-and-burn land clearing on our side, has forced the city-state not only to roll back its military training and urge its people to stay indoors but also prompted its environment minister to request Indonesia provide data on company names and concession maps to enable it to act — by putting commercial pressure on responsible plantation companies.
Our response was predictable: A senior official simply said that foreign parties should not interfere in our domestic affairs and attempts had been taken to control the damage, meaning fire trucks had been deployed to the hot spots.
For years, haze has sparked problems and affected neighboring countries. Back in 1997, haze from Indonesia reached as far as Thailand and the Philippines and inflicted an estimated US$9 billion in economic, social and environmental losses on the region.
The repeated haze problem has raised suspicions about vested interests in mining and forestry business in the affected areas, something that rings true considering that 16 years have passed since the 1997 haze disaster without significant progress in preventive measures.
The haze did not come out of the blue. In April, reports said haze disrupted visibility at Riau airports and hectares of peatland and forest in Bengkalis, also in the province, went up in flames and caused thick smog. On Tuesday, authorities in Bengkalis said they had given up the three-month effort to put out the widespread fires, which in one area alone covered 3,000 hectares.
Fires on peatlands release very high quantities of carbon, which is feared to amplify the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for triggering climate change. The 1997-1998 and 2006 forest fires were responsible for Indonesia being named the world’s third-worst carbon emitter.
Haze does not only disrupt transportation, reduce economic activities and endanger people’s health and safety; it also puts the country’s reputation at risk. We cannot simply just wait for the wind to steer the trouble out of our neighbors’ way or for the rain to fall and stop the fires.
The government can start by ratifying the ASEAN cross boundary haze agreement, signed in 2002.
It does not make sense that the cofounder of ASEAN and, most importantly, the host of most of the hot spots, refuses to be responsible and ignores the need to work together to deal with the problem.
The government can also accelerate the development of fire danger rating systems to provide early warning of potential fires.
Inaction is not a solution. It is time to twist the storyline and act.
The Jakarta Post
