Humanitarian crisis looms in haze-hit Indonesia

[webfact]

Humanitarian crisis looms in haze-hit Indonesia



JAKARTA: -- The Jakarta Post reported that a humanitarian crisis looms in Indonesia as the prolonged dry spell, coupled with waterbombing aircraft getting nowhere near fires seething deep below peat lands, all but ended any hope of a real respite from the haze in the weeks ahead.

Schools in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, two of the worst-hit areas this year, were ordered to suspend classes from Friday.

But if conditions worsen, and as a last resort, there are plans to evacuate babies and children from affected areas to ships belonging to the military or state-owned shipping firm PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan gave the bleak assessment at a briefing on the haze crisis on Thursday, after a high-level meeting involving ministers and key government officials.

Mr Luhut said a massive endeavor is needed to deal with the fires, and Indonesia has a critical five-week period ahead before the rains return. This, after the latest forecast by the country’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency showed there would be no rain until the end of next month.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Straits Times that there were more than 2,740 hot spots detected across Indonesia Thursday morning.


-- Thai PBS 2015-10-23

[Seastallion]

And yet Indonesia has refused offers of help from other countries.

Concerned that photos of devastated forests and burnt orangutans might get out, I suppose.

It is criminal on a huge scale how they have let these fires start in the first place, and did not respond properly in the second.

There is the human health factor. Here in Southern Thailand, the particulate matter level is well above the acceptable.

But there is an economic factor, too. Southern Thailand is effectively in a "nuclear winter" scenario. Only half the normal sunlight is reaching crops, thus halving productivity. Thailand should be suing, So should Vietnam and Malaysia, as they are both affected too.

BOYCOTT palm oil, AND all things Indonesian. They need pressure put on them to really do something.

The haze in the photo is not much worse than here.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Seastallion

[B166ER]

....it is epic in scale....

[Seastallion]

I didn't realise that this has been going on for decades.

That it has been going on for decades makes the Indonesian government all the more criminal and stupid.

https://www.britannica.com/science/forest-fire/images-videos

[shirtless]

This haze is in Cambodia as well today very bad , Nothing will be done rest assured some lip service at best , Indonesia should get sued imagine if you or I created this , man we would be jailed for life.

[oldsailor35]

The haze here on Koh Samui is still with us, yesterday it was impossible, visibility at sea probably just a few thousand meters with no change in sight.

[BuaBS]

Yes , and in about 3 months we can enjoy it in northern Thailand , same as each year.

[phuketandsee]

This is a situation where the UN should be imposing sanctions. Indonesia is essentially attacking surrounding countries.

I hate to say it but maybe when some of their own people start dying the Indonesian government will do something.

[springheeled jack]

why is Indonesia allowed to get away with affecting other countries with air pollution on a large scale with this so called haze which is actually smoke from peat fires .

[Don Mega]

The haze here on Koh Samui is still with us, yesterday it was impossible, visibility at sea probably just a few thousand meters with no change in sight.

visibility is just a few thousand meters .... what is it normally ?... on the clearest of days I do not reckon I could see a few kilometers away either on land or sea.

[Ulic]

A problem of there own making so I am unconcerned for there troubles. However I am concerned

for Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

[connda]

Wow! Looks like Chiang Mai every year between mid-April until Songkran in April.

[connda]

This is a situation where the UN should be imposing sanctions. Indonesia is essentially attacking surrounding countries.

I hate to say it but maybe when some of their own people start dying the Indonesian government will do something.

You could say the same of Northern Thailand during mid-April though Songkran in April.

I live out in the mountains of Northwest Thailand. The haze isn't farmer's slash and burn, although that adds to the problem; the problem is ignorant rural Thai going out to the forest and setting it on fire to burn off the under-growth so they can pick mushroom and other forest edibles during the rainy season. Millions upon millions of baht in damages, especially to the health of people in the North, just so a few people can make a pittance selling mushrooms at this time of year. And what's the government do? Lip service. Just like enforcing traffic laws. Lip service. So yeah, the UN should impose sanctions - uniformly.

[sugarcane24]

This is a situation where the UN should be imposing sanctions. Indonesia is essentially attacking surrounding countries.

I hate to say it but maybe when some of their own people start dying the Indonesian government will do something.

You could say the same of Northern Thailand during mid-April though Songkran in April.

I live out in the mountains of Northwest Thailand. The haze isn't farmer's slash and burn, although that adds to the problem; the problem is ignorant rural Thai going out to the forest and setting it on fire to burn off the under-growth so they can pick mushroom and other forest edibles during the rainy season. Millions upon millions of baht in damages, especially to the health of people in the North, just so a few people can make a pittance selling mushrooms at this time of year. And what's the government do? Lip service. Just like enforcing traffic laws. Lip service. So yeah, the UN should impose sanctions - uniformly.

The UN should in my opinion not be allowed to interfere with the affairs of any country because as far as I am concerned the UN is an evil outfit used as a tool to gradually impose a one world government dictatorship via its Agenda 21, under the pretext of tackling climate change.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[Berkshire]

I didn't realise that this has been going on for decades.

That it has been going on for decades makes the Indonesian government all the more criminal and stupid.

https://www.britannica.com/science/forest-fire/images-videos

I agree that this is a major problem bordering on criminality that should be taken seriously by the Indonesian government. But like most environmental issues, many in power don't seem to take it too seriously because there are typically no short-term consequences. They think of it more as a "made-up" issue that is pushed by militant environmentalists and tree-huggers (thanks Republican party USA). Hopefully this tragic "humanitarian crisis" will result in international condemnation that will get the Indo gov off their ass.