Glembert
KN. Exacerbated by El Nino, Indonesia has in the first 13 days of this month recorded more than three times as many forest fire hot spots as in the whole of August last year, with haze and its unhealthy effects spreading to neighboring Malaysia.
Most of the 1,745 hot spots recorded this month on the Indonesian forestry ministry’s fire monitoring website SiPongi are in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo that borders the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah. There are also many fires on Sumatra, Java and in parts of Papua. Last month 748 hot spots were detected, while in the whole of August last year 502 hot spots were logged.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vahd Nabyl said that the government continues to coordinate with Malaysia and Singapore after haze from forest and land fires in Indonesia reportedly began spreading to the neighboring countries, regardless of whether they have lodged protests.
The ministry is also using monitoring and information-sharing mechanisms under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, a legally binding environmental agreement among ASEAN member states to prevent, monitor, and control transboundary haze pollution from forest and land fires.
Nabyl added that the government continues to strengthen preparedness, conduct patrols and ground firefighting, carry out water bombing, enforce the law, and implement integrated weather modification operations to address the fires.
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