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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Is the haze really gone?

Meanwhile the Indonesian police announced they were set to slap charges on a Malaysian firm believed to be responsible for the forest fires in Riau.
UPDATED
KUALA LUMPUR: Looking at the visual left taken at 11.30am today, reports that the haze woes are over must be taken with a pinch of salt as parts of Klang Valley seem to be still experiencing the problem.
The Department of Environment’s website shows that the Air Pollutant Index to be under control in most cities. The highest reading was recorded in Malacca (72) followed by Pelabuhan Klang and Sarikei (59).
API readings from 0 to 50 is classified as good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy and 301 to 499 is hazardous. Readings of 500 and beyond are dangerous.
Despite an English daily’s headline today, ‘Haze is gone but DOE is not taking any chances’, Halimah Hassan, the director-general said she’s awaiting an official report from the Asean Coordination Centre in Jakarta.
According to the Riau Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in Sumatra, fires are still being put out in certain hotspots in Siak and Bengkalis.
Even the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre in Singapore showed that certain hotspots were still being detected in Sumatra but concluded that no significant haze was observed in the region.
It is learnt that Halimah will be addressing this matter at a Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution on July 17 in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian firm a suspect in Riau fires
Meanwhile in Riau, the Indonesian police had announced they were set to slap charges on a Malaysian firm believed to be responsible for the forest fires in the province.
The police said that they had named PT ADEI Plantation and Industry, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhard (KLK), a suspect in the forest burning in Riau carried out to clear land for plantations.
According to the Jakarata Post, national police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said that the company allegedly carried out irresponsible burning practices in its concession area in Riau.
“The company is responsible for the fire and has been declared a suspect, but we have not determined the company’s employees who were responsible for the burning,” he was quoted as saying.
Ronny said that they detected several hotspots in areas controlled by five companies, but had only gained enough evidence on PT ADEI’s involvement for its use of illegal slash-and-burn methods to clear land for cultivation.
In June, the slash-and-burn fires created a severe haze that shrouded Singapore and Malaysia. Indonesians living near the blaze also suffered.
The record-setting pollution prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to issue an apology to the neighbouring countries.
Separately, Riau police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hermansyah said that they had questioned 16 witnesses in the case, ranging from PT ADEI’s field workers to management-level employees.
“None have been named as the perpetrators of the fire in the company’s concession area […] We do not want to rush the naming of the responsible parties,” he told The Jakarta Post in Pekanbaru on Thursday.
Hermansyah declined to mention the names and the positions of the witnesses.
KLK’s denial
On June 26, KLK published a public statement in the Post, reiterating that it did not subscribe to irresponsible burning practices and was in full compliance with the Asean zero burning policy on for its operations on its plantations.
“The purported concession area under PT ADEI is mainly planted with mature palms and is at a productive stage and therefore, there are no land clearing activities for the purpose of new planting,” the statement read.
The Malaysian public-listed firm, however, acknowledged minor occurrences of wild fires within pockets of its concession areas due to the dry season.
Previously, Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya suggested 14 companies were the source of forest fires in Riau.
In total eight are Malaysian-owned, namely PT Langgam Inti Hiberida, PT Bumi Rakksa Sejati, PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation (PTTMP), PT Udaya Loh Dinawi as well as PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa, PT Multi Gambut Industri, PT Mustika Agro Lestari and PT ADEI.
Three of the firms under investigation are owned by government-linked companies in Malaysia.
Later on, the police narrowed down their investigation to five companies, including PT ADEI. It remains unclear whether the four remaining companies had been cleared by the police.

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