Smog Update from BenarNews

[phuketsub]

The winds have finally shifted and are blowing in from the West, bringing in lots of rain and some smog relief.

The following is an update about Indonesian President Jokowi meeting with Obama over the topic from BenarNews:

Note: Text used by permission of BenarNews. To view the associated photo click here.

Indonesia: Jokowi Shortens U.S. Visit Due to Haze Crisis

President Joko Widodo has cut short his first state visit to the United States to deal with a haze crisis back home, setting aside efforts to stoke investor interest in Indonesia, whose economy has flagged during his year-old presidency.

Jokowi, as he is known, was to head home late Tuesday, skipping the second half of his four-day trip, when he was scheduled to visit tech giants Google and Apple and investment fund managers in California.

“I’ve decided to shorten my trip to America and quickly return home,” Jokowi announced via Twitter shortly before a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday, a day after his arrival in the United States.

Air pollution from illegal fires used to clear land for agriculture and palm oil plantations in Indonesia has been a regional irritant for two decades, but this year is set to be the worst on record, due to an extended dry season.

Earlier this month, the Washington-based World Resources Institute published research showing that Indonesia’s fires produced more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire U.S. economy on 26 days between September 1 and October 15.

In comments from the White House, Jokowi acknowledged the climate impact of the fires.

“We’ve had a thorough discussion with President Obama on the issue of climate change. We also agreed to work together in addressing the issue, for the sake of our future generations. Especially in Indonesia, we have a big challenge right now. We have peat fires, and the efforts to extinguish it is quite challenging,” Jokowi said, according to a transcript of his translated remarks released by the White House.

The fires, usually confined to Sumatra and Kalimantan, are now burning on other islands and regions of the sprawling archipelago, including Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.

The resultant haze has forced school closures, caused illness and disrupted economic activity from southern Thailand to the Philippines. Late last week, it finally affected Jakarta – the capital city usually spared from the annual air-borne menace.

Weak oversight

The spread of the fires even as neighboring countries help to extinguish existing ones has underlined what environmental activists say is weak oversight and a lack of legal deterrents, especially towards large companies involved in the burning.

“As we see in this crisis time when the smoke is really bad, legal measures taken by the ministries of forestry and the environment are really disappointing,” said Musri Nauli, director of the Indonesian environmental group Walhi in Jambi, a province of Sumatra that has been one of the worst hit this year.

In coming days, Walhi and the Indonesian Advocates Association (Peradi) plan to file a class action lawsuit against the government over the fires.

“[Jambi] police have released a list of suspects, but the strange thing is, we don’t recognize the names on that list,” Musri said.

Large companies that activists believe are behind the burning are not among them, he said.

Indonesia’s palm oil industry has expanded rapidly. In 2013, palm oil plantations covered 13.5 million hectares (33.4 million acres), according to Sawit Watch, an Indonesian non-governmental organization. Palm oil is used in food, household products, and cosmetics.

And Indonesia’s government has set a goal of 28 million hectares (69.2 million acres) of palm oil plantations by 2020.

“That is why the burning continues,” Musri said.

Light sentences

Riko Kurniawan, the Walhi executive director in Riau, just north of Jambi, said law enforcement and government officials in his province were becoming bolder in taking legal action against perpetrators. Eleven suspects are currently on trial, he said.

“The problem now is with the courts,” he told BenarNews. Trials result in weak charges and light sentences.

“The judges and prosecutors appear to be unaware of environmental law. Purposefully or not, their understanding is weak so that in the end the sentence is light, or there’s no legal consequence at all,” he said.

According to Musri, "the fight against corporations is complex. They have a lot of capital, and that can be very influential,” he said.

“We can see how much they support the senior officials who visit the areas impacted by smoke. Corporate officials always greet important [visiting] government officials. Corporate logos even appear at the fire stations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the behavior of some judges is eroding the credibility of the courtroom, Riko said.

He recalled the case of a judge in an environmental suit in Riau’s Bengkalis District Court who was called to account for spending leisure time with defendants in the case.

As of late last week, this year’s fires had killed 10 Indonesians, made a half million people in six provinces ill, and impacted some 43 million Indonesians, according to the BNPB.

Dewi Safitri contributed to this report.

[Seastallion]

"The resultant haze has forced school closures, caused illness and disrupted economic activity from southern Thailand to the Philippines. Late last week, it finally affected Jakarta – the capital city usually spared from the annual air-borne menace."

Yet, "As of late last week, this year’s fires had killed 10 Indonesians, made a half million people in six provinces ill, and impacted some 43 million Indonesians"

Yeah, it's only when the capital is affected AND Obama voices concerns, that Jokowi says he'll do something.