House Speaker Setya Novanto has said the government must stop issuing licenses for allowing plantations on peatland because these have a dangerous impact during the dry season.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Forest and peatland fires have protracted over the past several months and triggered widespread haze in the country and in neighboring nations, namely Singapore and Malaysia.

The haze disaster which is among others caused by peatland fires has become an annual problem during the dry season. Therefore, the government is urged to stop exploiting its peatland.

House Speaker Setya Novanto has said the government must stop issuing licenses for allowing plantations on peatland because these have a dangerous impact during the dry season.

During drought, peatland areas are prone to fires which could cause a haze disaster, he told reporters in Palemang,South Sumatra on Tuesday.

Setya Novanto made the remarks when making a transit halt at Palembangs Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport, together with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya and Health Minister Nila F Moeloek , while on a visit to monitor the impact of haze in Jambi province.

He said haze has been shrouding Sumatra and Kalimantan for a relatively long period of time now. Among others, one cause behind the haze is peatland fires. Peatland fires are difficult to extinguish because one needs a long time to put out such a blaze.

Only if the rains fall for several hours will authorities be able to extinguish peatland fires. So, preventing such fires at a much earlier stage is more preferable. It is, therefore, better to stop issuing peatland exploitation licenses, he said.

He said the present haze was lingering as fires are still gutting forest and peatland areas. The government has tried its best to extinguish the hotspots but the area where land and forest fires are raging is extensive.

Asked whether there was a need to increase the number of foreign aircraft that have been providing help, the House Speaker said additional airplanes would be needed if the present condition of forest fires and haze is taken into account.

Efforts to put out hotspots must be maximized in order to eliminate haze, he added.

Actually, the government has been planning to impose a moratorium on the issuance of permits for peatland exploitation.

Having been plagued by annual haze that has caused tens of thousands of people to suffer from respiratory infections over, the government is considering stopping the exploitation of its peatlands.

As a preliminary step, the government will impose a moratorium on the issuance of exploitation permits to companies willing to cultivate peat forest areas. It will also revitalize the peatland that has been exploited and burnt.

The policy was raised in a limited cabinet meeting Friday which was chaired by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The limited cabinet meeting with relevant ministers was held to discuss the haze problem and its impacts plaguing the country over the past three months.

During the meeting the President issued instructions on efforts to tackle the on-going haze and its impacts, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, chief public relations officer of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.

Indonesias peatland is spread over 15 million hectares, most of which has been exploited.

The fires caused by the current drought have burned 1.8 million hectares of land and forest areas, most of which are peatland forests, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said.

In the meantime, Vice President Yusuf Kalla has said the government will implement a program to restore the peatlands to their original role in an effort to overcome forest and land fires.

"Forest and fires must be handled as per a proper plan (that takes into account the basic functioning) and Indonesia needs a large-scale restoration program," the Vice President said while opening a working meeting of the Indigenous Entrepreneurs Association here on Tuesday.

Kalla said Indonesia needs to carry out restoration to reinstate the peatlands to their original state because the people now feel that the ill effect of haze was a result of peatland fires.

He said restoring peatlands will need five years and funds worth trillions of rupiah.

"We have no other choice if this condition is to be improved. So, we must plan accordingly and start from the basic, namely restoration," the Vice President said.

He said that the government will take firm and harsh steps to tackle the problem and the companies causing these fires must be held responsible.

"They must be held responsible and made to bear the cost and pay the fines. So, plantation companies should be careful from now onwards. They should not mismanage their oil palm plantations if they do not want to face sanctions. They should now improve their functioning," the Vice President said.

He also said major companies which run corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs can work together with the government to handle haze.

Regarding the haze disaster, worsened by the El Nino phenomenon, the Vice President said the forest and land could catch fire due to both intentional and unintentional causes, mismanagement, misuse and wrongly issued licenses.

He acknowledged that the present and previous governments had made big mistakes because they agreed to and issued too many licenses.

"I also bear responsibility because I was also in the previous government. We issued too many licenses for something which did not necessarily materialize. But all that has already happened and what we need is to restore the land," the Vice President explained.(*)

Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015