TIS special report: Indonesia seeks to clear up haze problem
Roundup: Indonesia’s government has made conciliatory statements on the haze billowing from Riau over its neighbours, commenced operations to dampen fires burning on the islands, and made several arrests in connection with illegal land clearing. But is it enough?
Vox: Indonesia’s main CPO association, Gapki, says its members don’t burn. Provident Agro denies media reports that its unit is burning. The RSP, the main palm oil industry environmental body, says it will take action if members are proven to be burning, including the Indonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian companies accused of clearing land with fire, but recommends “avoiding speculation” for now.
Roundup: Indonesian authorities made eight arrests Monday and Tuesday in connection with runaway blazes on Sumatra island’s Riau province that have caused extreme air pollution in parts of Indonesia as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
The haze is a near-yearly occurrence but air pollutant saturation has risen to dangerous levels this year, causing Singaporean and Malaysian authorities to take extra health measures and express public outrage.
The government deployed 2,000 additional personnel Monday and Tuesday to police the burned area, which stretches across 2,000 hectares on the island. Satellite imagery has detected around 200 hotspots.
Indonesian Pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday formally apologized to Malaysia and Singapore for the haze, asking for understanding from the neighbouring countries and stating that Indonesia is working hard to fight the fires. He added that there “should be a thorough investigation,” attributing the haze to both natural and human factors and noting that the wind direction has caused the smoke to concentrate in Singapore and Malaysia.
Authorities have also deployed firefighting and cloud-seeding aircraft to mitigate the problem, and rain has been reported in the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru.
TIS Analysis: The arrests by Indonesian authorities of eight farmers appear to lend some support to claims by the plantation industry that plantation companies are not the main culprits. However, it remains to be seen whether there is strong evidence against those arrested and, more importantly, whether they are employed by plantation companies as third-party contractors on CPO concessions. Reports have quoted senior Indonesian government officials as stating that plantation companies are to blame, and this certainly seems to be a possibility. However, the main Indonesian industry association has denied culpability, as has one of the companies alleged to be at fault (see Vox section below).
Malaysians and Singaporeans have welcomed Yudhoyono’s apology, and there appears to be genuinely little else that can be done at this stage, meaning the haze issue could well continue to dominate headlines for the next few news cycles.
Firefighting and cloudseeding efforts have also been relatively unsuccessful so far – unless heavy rains dampen the blazes, the problem is likely to continue for at least the next few days. Expect further analysis from TIS, including on media reactions to the haze issue, in the coming days.
Vox: comments on the issue from GAPKI, Provident Agro and the RSPO
Indonesia Palm Oil Industry Association (GAPKI) secretary general Joko Supriyono:
On allegations that the fires are due to plantation companies burning land:
The forest fires in Sering village, Riau islands, have not been caused by any of [GAPKI’s] members. It is not companies who are doing the burning. It is cheaper to do land-clearing with fire rather than using mechanical means, however, we do not do this. There may be other possible causes [for the fires.]
Of Gapki’s dozens of members, there are only six located close to land where there is burning, but none of [the six Gapki members] are currently doing land-clearing. It is possible that farmers are clearing land, our members are not, we are using land that is already cleared. Clearing new land is not easy as there are several processes that must be carried out.
On the financial impact from the fires:
There will be losses, that is certain. We can’t yet estimate the scale. The fires are still burning, although we hope they will die out soon so that [plantation] companies can return to work. But we don’t need to panic, this is still a short-term issue and there aren’t yet any indications that there will be long-term effects. The fires will not affect output. Prices are stable and supply and demand channels are safe.
On the CPO market price:
Based on Gapki data, the current market price for CPO should be around the level of $700-$800 a metric ton.
Kumari, Director at Provident Agro:
PT Langgam Inti Hibrindo, a unit of Provident Agro based in Rantau Baru village, Pelawan, Riau Province, does not have plantations or operations in Desa Sering village as has been reported by local and international media. The plantation is 11 kilometres from Desa Sering. Provident owns 99.98% of LHI. It acquired the established plantation in 2007, and has a no-burning policy in land development.
Weather conditions in Riau are currently highly extreme and precautions are being taken. Monitoring equipment is being deployed and evacuation preparations are being implemented in the event of further fires.
We are operating normally. There was flooding in February but the land has dried out. The haze has not affected operations.
In anticipation of the fires spreading further, we have increased our alert level with 24-hour patrols and added equipment including fire hoses and heavy machinery to localize any outbreaks of fire. We are taking anticipatory actions.
On statements by the Ministry of Forestry that third-party contractors have been conducting land clearing:
We carry out land-clearing ourselves as well as hiring subcontractors but we give them strict orders not to burn land but to use bulldozers, excavators or chainsaws.
On whether an investigation has been conducted:
Inquiries have been made to our monitors in the field about Desa Sering and we have clarified that we are not involved in the burning there. So far there has been no investigation by the central or regional governments.
RSPO Secretary General Darrel Webber on the environmental pollution in Southeast Asia
The environmental pollution caused by forest fires in Indonesia that has enveloped several countries in South East Asia to such hazardous levels is deplorable. The RSPO firmly condemns any negligent activities related to this. The RSPO is highly concerned about the impact on communities and children living in these countries and strongly advocates urgent measures to be taken to cease this heightening pollution.
To all those individuals, companies and groups that have provided information and reached out to the RSPO to look into this matter– thank you. We assure you that as an international multi-stakeholder organization and certification scheme for sustainable palm oil, the RSPO’s Principles & Criteria explicitly indicate that no open burning is permissible.
Within its capacity, the RSPO is critically looking into this to first of all identify the member organizations that have been indicated as implicated; secondly to instruct them to immediately deploy measures that will terminate any open burning that may have been caused by them; and thirdly; RSPO will take remedial actions against these companies if the forest fires is due to negligent conduct.
Of the numerous companies reported to be involved in the forest fires in Indonesia through the various media and online platforms, the RSPO confirms that five of these are member companies.
These companies are: 1. PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa; 2. Tabung Haji Plantations; 3. Sinar Mas; 4. Kuala Lumpur Kepong; 5. Sime Darby
By virtue of being a RSPO member it is a must that these companies have a policy across all their operations that strictly prohibit open burning and have standard operating procedures to manage fire risks as per the requirement of the RSPO’s Principles & Criteria.
The RSPO will be directing these member companies to submit digital maps of their plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan within the next 48 hours; which will be used to assess and analyze against the published mapping of the forest fires by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The analysis will assist in confirming the locations of the forest fires in comparison with the location of plantations owned by these member companies; which will then form the basis for the next step in the investigation.
The next step will focus on validating the reason behind the forest fires on whether this is due to negligent conduct or otherwise. If the investigations confirm negligent conduct – the RSPO will not hesitate to take action. However – the RSPO recommends avoiding speculation at this stage allowing investigations to determine whether these RSPO member companies are involved.
It is apparent, based on independent reporting done by the World Resources Institute, that there are several sources to the current fires: 47% of the fires in Indonesia originate outside of forest or oil palm plantations; 27% originate in timber plantations; 20% in oil palm plantations; 4% on protected areas; 1% in logging areas. http://insights.wri.org/news/2013/06/peering-through-haze-what-data-can-tell-usabout-fires-indonesia
While the RSPO is a platform for recourse towards its member companies and will do whatever it takes to play its part in reducing the hazardous pollution - it is highly crucial that this is a collective effort as its member companies make up a diminutive portion in the overall scale of the issue - other regulatory enforcements must immediately and urgently step in.
The satellite imagery on the forest fires clearly delineate that it is highly prevalent within peatlands. Peat systems cover large areas and each system may include multiple landowners and land use. Fires that begin within peatlands do not necessarily manifest in the same location as it is often indicated that they spread along great distances underground, invisible to the eye before the fire actually appears. This makes it much more important to ensure that the effective management of peat is implemented at a landscape level rather than on a management unit level. Hence, authorities should ensure effective landscape level management protocols are in place prior to allowing any development on peat.
Statements provided by RSPO member companies:
Sime Darby President and Group Chief Executive, Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd Bakke Salleh:
“Sime Darby Berhad fully supports the initiative by RSPO. I would like to reiterate Sime Darby’s commitment and full compliance of the zero burning policy, which is strictly embedded in all our oil palm plantation operations.”
Kuala Lumpur Kepung Head of Sustainability, Sin Chuan Eng:
“We will be making arrangements to submit the digital maps of our plantations to RSPO and shall give the RSPO fullest cooperation during the process of the proposed investigations.”
