Indonesian haze likely to last until new year
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Indonesian forest fires that have caused choking smoke to drift across Southeast Asia are spreading to new areas and are unlikely to be put out until next year, experts said yesterday.
Indonesia has come under increased pressure from its neighbors to contain the annual “haze” crisis, which is caused by slash-and-burn agriculture practices, largely on Sumatra and Kalimantan.
But it has failed to put out the fires, with “hot spots” growing in eastern parts of the country and industry officials and analysts estimating the smoke will last until early 2016.
“Maybe it will last until December and January,” said Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research, adding that hot spots had reached Papua, a region that usually avoids widespread fires.
“It is because people are opening new agriculture areas, like palm oil,” he said.
A senior official at a company active in Indonesia’s forested areas said the haze could continue until March.
Indonesia usually enters its wet season in October and November, but this year the country is expected to face moderate El Nino dry conditions which could strengthen until December and may hinder efforts to control the fires.
Indonesia’s national disaster management agency has made several forecasts for when the forest fires will be brought under control, many of which have now passed, but their latest target date is early November.
Indonesia has revoked the land licenses of PT Mega Alam Sentosa and state-owned PT Dyera Hutan Lestari, a forestry ministry official said on Monday.
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