By P. Gunasegaram
For perhaps the first time ever, the Indonesian president made a visit to South Sumatra to personally witness forest fires raging out of control, causing haze across Southeast Asia. Dare we hope that there will be a final solution to the haze, which coincided with the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998 and has been with us since?
It’s a strange phenomenon this haze, which blankets not just Sumatra but Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand even. It appeared out of the blue in 1997/1998 which coincided with the peak of the Asian financial crisis – before that, it seemed to be rather rare.
But since 1997, it has been a regular event never failing to appear every year and sometimes appearing several times in a single year. What is puzzling is why there was no such open burning prior to 1997. What was the trigger?
We can only speculate that it may have had something to do with the Asian financial crisis which threw Indonesia totally out of whack and caused wrenching difficulties in the that already poor country.
Perhaps so many people were thrown out of work and so many livelihoods were lost that the Indonesian government turned a totally blind eye to the wanton and indiscriminate destruction of forests in the effort to turn the land into farms and plantations.
The open burning started in 1997/1998 has continued without a break during every dry season, after that often for weeks on end and causing untold damage to health, agriculture, tourism, and transport.
In fact, the 1997/1998 haze is estimated to have caused economic losses then of a massive US$9.3 billion, or over RM35 billion, at exchange rates then. Rest assured the present haze will cause a few billion ringgit in damage before it’s done. Surely the economic benefit, if any, to Indonesia is far too small in comparison to the damage caused.
Which brings us to the next two puzzles about the haze: Why is it not possible for Southeast Asian countries to persuade Indonesia to adopt other measures to open up land instead of blanketing skies with smoke from open fires, most of which are deliberately set to get the job done in the cheapest way possible?
And why is the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) so stingy with information on the haze and who are they trying to protect with their scantiness?
Let’s make an estimate of economic losses because of the recurrent haze. In 1997/1998, it was estimated at RM35 billion by those who know. Let’s say the losses have averaged just RM7 billion a year or one-fifth of the 1997/1998 figure since then.
That adds a further about RM120 billion over 17 years to make a grand tally of RM155 billion! Now is that not a sum which is well worth saving and should not every effort be made to do this?
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in early September visited South Sumatra province for a first-hand look at forest fires that have been causing the worst haze in the past few days, as officials continue water-bombing and cloud-seeding efforts, reports said.
He was accompanied by the police chief, military chief, head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), and a senior Environment and Forestry Ministry official on a last-minute trip aimed at stepping up the urgency of putting out the fires.
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo
“I’ve ordered the police chief to get very tough on companies that do not comply with the law… and instructed the forestry minister to revoke (their) licences once they are found guilty on criminal charges,” said Jokowi, who arrived in Palembang where he was met by the province’s Governor Alex Noerdin.
Now that’s clear indication the fires are deliberate and caused by land clearing. Apparently, these days, plantation companies have largely got smarter. They don’t do the direct burning themselves – farmers burn vegetation on their land first and subsequently unload the land onto the plantation companies for a profit.
But even that may only be part of the story. Indonesia is growing rapidly and it has a large and burgeoning population which may need land. And most of this land is located in Sumatra and Kalimantan. And when the land is to be cleared, the easiest way is just open burning.
Perhaps it is time to get tougher on Indonesia. Yes, the country was ravaged more than any other by the 1997/1998 financial crisis. But does this open burning truly benefit the farmers and the poor or does it benefit big-time plantation owners, including some Malaysian ones?
A proper investigation using satellite imaging may help to get to the root cause. Those investigations should be done by a joint committee set up by affected countries, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, and should seek Indonesian participation.
Once the source of open burning is established, the options available become easier to establish. If it is plantations and loggers who are causing open burning, pressure must be brought on the Indonesian government to stop it, including via the United Nations and the International Court. Of course, appropriate diplomatic activity must precede such action.
Indonesia must be persuaded to use other methods to dispose forest waste if open burning is taking place for the creation of farmland for a burgeoning population. For this, international expertise can be sought and a system of financial incentives can be put in place to help Indonesia.
Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore can set up a fund of, say, RM2-RM3 billion to set the ball rolling for worldwide help to Indonesia to avoid wanton destruction of its forests.
If unintended forest fires are causing the problem, then there should be coordination to put the fires out and the money necessary for this can come from the fund set up to help Indonesia.
Ultimately, a solution can be found if it is based on a genuine desire to help Indonesia and to convince them that alternative measures will save everyone, including Indonesia, a lot of economic, social, and environmental losses.
In the meantime, the DOE must realise that its responsibility is to provide Malaysians with timely and accurate data on air quality. Merely saying that air quality is unhealthy is not enough. Is it safe to be out the streets, should we wear masks, what precautions must we take?
Let’s give up this Malaysian malaise of sweeping problems under the carpet and understating them, and face them head on instead. Meanwhile, the DOE can do much more to reduce air pollution from sources within Malaysia itself, but that’s another story.
Hopefully, a firm but diplomatic stance together with other affected countries against Indonesia over the haze problem would lead to a long-term solution. If it does not, it is a clear manifestation that there is no regional cooperation to speak of – Asean and Jokowi notwithstanding.
That’s about as depressing as the haze itself.
(Founding editor of KINIBIZ P Gunasegaram estimates he has written at least 10 columns on the haze over the past 18 years. So excuse him if he has recycled much of the material from previous articles and updated them.)
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