Indonesia's haze crisis 'crime against humanity'

[webfact]

Indonesia's haze crisis "crime against humanity"



JAKARTA: -- Indonesia's haze crisis continues to worsen, with over 43 million people already breathing in the toxic fumes from forest and peat fires, leading the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to describe it as a "crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions," The Jakarta Globe reported.

The BMKG said on Saturday that satellite images show parts of the Greater Jakarta region are now also affected. At least ten people have died from exposure to the haze so far in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the hardest-hit parts of the country.

BMKG spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said several people died during efforts to extinguish the flames while others fell gravely ill and died after breathing in the toxic fumes, mostly because they had an existing health condition.

The death toll cited by Sutopo did not include seven hikers who were killed in a forest fire on Mount Lawu in East Java on Oct 18. Two others from the same group remain in critical condition.

More than 500,000 cases of acute respiratory tract infections due to the haze have been reported in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, and West, Central and South Kalimantan in the period from July 1 until Friday, the BMKG spokesman said.

Sutopo stressed that these were only the recorded cases, so the extent of suffering in these six provinces, where a state of emergency has been declared, is likely much higher. The spokesman said that “99 percent” of the fires were lit intentionally, meaning that the haze crisis should be considered a man-made disaster.

“This is a crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions,” Sutopo said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/indonesias-haze-crisis-crime-against-humanity

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-26

[B166ER]

....the guy who asked if he's eating too many eggs get's more mail than this? Where's the outrage? I thought there'd be 40 pages by now....

....this is a crime and it's effecting millions of people....I don't buy Palm Oil "EVER"....

[huahinjoe]

Choke half of Asia, for the illegal profit of a few big companies....

Companies burning land and causing transboundary #haze are Asia Agri, Golen Agri Resources, Wilmar, Sime Darby, and Asia Pulp and Paper and so on...

Indonesia's forest fires now have a carbon footprint equal to Japan's annual emissions. http://wpo.st/tbhi0

[clockman]

Same here, in Chiang Mai every March-April. For a decade at least. T.I.T. no change.

[NongKhaiKid]

Last week Channel News Asia did a report on the situation and one of their reporters was in an area with lots of fires, she asked a farmer how the fires started so he lowered his head, avoided her eyes and announced,

" Oh they just start naturally ! "

Well of course they do.

Edited October 26, 2015 by NongKhaiKid

[shirtless]

Its ignited coal deposits under the soil which is the real problem this smoke is even more toxic , Everybody suffers so a tiny minority of greedy corporation s can increase their bottom line , Indonesia you should be billed for this damage and maybe you will take it seriously .

[garyk]

I was in Malaysia for a few weeks and had to leave. I was sick every day. I cannot imagine the people in Indonesia. I like Asia but would never retire in the south of Thailand or Malaysia just because of this. It is the biggest mess I have ever seen?

[Seastallion]

And everybody is ignoring the economic aspect.

Cut out half the sunlight, and you lower your crop yield by 50%.

It's a crime against humanity AND a crime against each country that is affected by the haze.

[godden]

Money versus plebs health, the money wins hands down every time.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Its ignited coal deposits under the soil which is the real problem this smoke is even more toxic , Everybody suffers so a tiny minority of greedy corporation s can increase their bottom line , Indonesia you should be billed for this damage and maybe you will take it seriously .

Billing Indonesia for this will not stop this from happening. That would just put the financial burden on the tax payers that are already the victims of this crime.

The big corporations and the politicians that allow this to go on and that benefit financially should be billed and held criminally responsible.

That is the only way this type of thing will stop. If this type of behavior was not profitable, it would never happen.

Whenever I hear politicians say that environmental regulations are too strong and hurt big business I know someone with deep pockets is paying them to say that.

Big corps have had hundreds of years of proving that profits will always trump the environment and the health and safety of citizens.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Hang the rich!!!

[farmerjo]

Its a 3rd world country catching up.

How does everyone think farmland was cleared all over the world.

[tigermonkey]

A crime against humanity indeed. At least the OP recognizes ( which is a first ) that much of the problem is from peat fires. Now we need people to start to recognize the massive problem of brown coal seam fires also. These fires all come from the same foolish attempts to make more money. Most NGOs now recognize the existence of as many as 100,000 coal seam fires and peat fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The difference with most of these fires is that they smolder underground and never are extinguished, like Fire Mountain in Australia.

They spew out far more toxic elements than mere brush/forest fires -- and they never stop. Every time they clear and burn more forest they expose and ignite more peat and brown coal. More than a crime against humanity, it is long term slaughter of thousands.

[RPCVguy]

This is getting attention from a variety of reports, and is being posted quite widely on some social media:

"The environment and forestry ministry had previously demanded that Bumi Mekar Hijau pay 7.8tn rupiah (S$780 million) to the state for damages from burning land. If found guilty again this time, the company’s management could be jailed for up to 10 years."
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/18/indonesia-arrests-seven-company-executives-for-illegal-forest-fires

Video reporting from Channel News Asia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/getreal-s14/heart-of-the-haze/2206108.html

And the most scientifically linked report on RobertScribbler Blog
"Over the past month, very intense and widespread wildfires have been breaking out in two heavily forested Equatorial regions — the Amazon and Indonesia. You can see the point source CO2 emissions for these fires in the CAMS graphic above. And what we see is that current emissions from these wildfires now exceeds that of the massive industrial Northern Hemisphere sources.

"In essence, the vast carbon stores contained in the forested regions of the Amazon and Indonesia are burning and releasing into the atmosphere. This burning is due, in substantial part, to the added heat human fossil fuel based industry has forced into the global climate system. Thus, these extraordinary fires are the very definition of an amplifying feedback. And they will likely result in net global carbon emissions from all sources hitting a pretty extreme spike for 2015."

http://robertscribbler.com/2015/10/21/too-furious-for-human-intervention-climate-feedbacks-spur-out-of-control-wildfires-from-indonesia-to-brazil/

[razer]

Singapore has sued five Indonesian companies blamed for farm and plantation fires causing serious air pollution over the city-state, which is a global financial centre with a tropical climate and multicultural population. The latest move by the Singapore government could lead to massive fines against the companies that have been served with legal notices, according to a government statement issued Friday.

http://www.ibtimes.com/singapore-haze-leads-legal-action-against-indonesian-firms-could-result-massive-fines-2115451

Personally I think Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines should also file law suites.

[Saan]

Singapore has sued five Indonesian companies blamed for farm and plantation fires causing serious air pollution over the city-state, which is a global financial centre with a tropical climate and multicultural population. The latest move by the Singapore government could lead to massive fines against the companies that have been served with legal notices, according to a government statement issued Friday.

http://www.ibtimes.com/singapore-haze-leads-legal-action-against-indonesian-firms-could-result-massive-fines-2115451

Personally I think Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines should also file law suites.

Even Thailand could not be that hypocritical as to file a lawsuit when they contribute to the problems every year in the north and do nothing.

It is also big business, the massive food conglomerates who use contractors to grow corn as animal food, that cause a large part of the problem. No one in authority will challenge them.

[Boatfreak]

....the guy who asked if he's eating too many eggs get's more mail than this? Where's the outrage? I thought there'd be 40 pages by now....

....this is a crime and it's effecting millions of people....I don't buy Palm Oil "EVER"....

I personally also don't buy palm oil for that reason but unfortunately it is used in many, many products of which we are not aware (eg Nutella)

[springheeled jack]

I have maintained in other posts that Indonesia should be penalised in some way for allowing this tragedy to continue unabated the powers that be say they are sorry but saying they are sorry is not enough for the harm they are causing in other countries.

[Doc46]

All the crap of suing Indo is Not going to stop the fires,,,,First things first. Get All the countries involved an. d get together an organise to Flood all the areas to put the fires out.Can be done instead off suing,suing can be done later.

[RickBradford]

This burning is due, in substantial part, to the added heat human fossil fuel based industry has forced into the global climate system. Thus, these extraordinary fires are the very definition of an amplifying feedback.

Looks like this guy's scribbling should be done on lavatory walls. These are not 'extraordinary fires'. There was a very similar situation in 1997 -- I spent 4 months in Singapore breathing particulate matter with occasional pockets of oxygen. Navigation was extremely chancy.

The root cause is the natural El Nino weather pattern, which (among other well-documented effects such as a cold northern European winter) causes dry conditions around South-East Asia and delays the monsoon which will suppress these fires. The 1997/8 El Nino was especially strong, so is this year's, so the haze sticks around for long enough for even the Western media to notice. The 2013 haze was really bad but less long-lasting.

Since the Indonesian government is unwilling or unable to prevent these fires year after year, whether caused by farmers using slash-and-burn methods, or big companies clearing land for palm oil to make biofuel, this will continue to be a problem.

[Benmart]

Hang the rich!!!

I'm not the police, judge, jury or executioner. I'm certainly not perfect or some self-imagined God of justice.

[inzman]

What is happening is a handful of big corporations and farmers start the fires to clear the land. They pay off the local politicians. The locals are too ignorant to notice the damage and also believe the rhetoric coming from the culprits. But what really amazes me, is that the rest of the world just accepts the consequences with little or no adversity. Surely the masses should speak out loud and clear that this is unacceptable. Until it happens the fires will continue to be lit. And the rich fat cats will profit at the worlds expense. Unbelievable, they destroy the world we live in so they can drive new Benzs, and nobody steps in and stops the insanity.

[willyumiii]

I love reading the posts from farangs in North Thailand complaining about the smoke generated by rice farming...

Northern Thailand has been dependant on rice production for centuries now.

Growing rice has always required burning the fields before replanting.

Nobody has yet informed the Thai people that the only important industry in North Thailand these days is the construction of McMansions on cheap farm land, in the middle of the rice farms, and making their owners feel comfortable, like they never left their home countries.

Maybe the rich farangs can pay the farmers not to work for a living?

[connda]

Which makes Northern Thailand 'burn-down-the-forests-in-the-hot-season' haze crisis a _______________.

a. make mushroom

b. make mushroom

c. make mushroom

d. a crime against humanity make rice

Edited October 26, 2015 by connda

[ggt]

Tens of thousands of people in Indonesia and surrounding countries are likely being damaged for life...will likely have ever increasing breathing problems for the rest of their lives...

The damage they are now sustaining will not be totally reversed once the haze disappears...the breathing problems will linger...indefinitely...IMHO

Time to invest in local pharmaceuticals...

Edited October 26, 2015 by ggt

[timendres]

I love reading the posts from farangs in North Thailand complaining about the smoke generated by rice farming...

Northern Thailand has been dependant on rice production for centuries now.

Growing rice has always required burning the fields before replanting.

Nobody has yet informed the Thai people that the only important industry in North Thailand these days is the construction of McMansions on cheap farm land, in the middle of the rice farms, and making their owners feel comfortable, like they never left their home countries.

Maybe the rich farangs can pay the farmers not to work for a living?

Reminds me of where I grew up in the US. Farmers desperate for income during tough times would sell off small plots for the nearby city folk who wished to build "a house in the country". Only to have those city folk turn around and complain about the dust created by the farmers during the planting season. They also hated the dust coming off the dirt roads, so they demanded that the roads be paved, which had to be paid primarily by the farmers who owned most of the road frontage. I recently went back there, and there was not an acre of farmland left.

Edited October 26, 2015 by timendres

[Dustdevil]

Its a 3rd world country catching up.

How does everyone think farmland was cleared all over the world.

It was never cleared by fire in Europe or North America. That's absurd.

[hugh2121]

How about the firing squad for crimes against humanity. Since people have died as a result of this crime, is that not murder?

[bangon04]

....the guy who asked if he's eating too many eggs get's more mail than this? Where's the outrage? I thought there'd be 40 pages by now....

....this is a crime and it's effecting millions of people....I don't buy Palm Oil "EVER"....

Cmon this is a good news story. It demonstrates that ASEAN members are serious about their intentions to share national resources, and to co-ordinate their activities by harmonising the dates of their slash and burns....

It would be a pity if each ASEAN country decided to have a slash and burn season at a different time of year.

Haze is really a symbol of the new AEC. It can be felt first hand by all citizens. More than empty rhetoric.

[Pinot]

Asking the very corrupt Indonesian government to do something about the fires is like asking Santa for a pony.