Haze

[winston]

Now, you can see MBS but you can't see the Twin Towers

[kennynah]

everyone can see

the people's ACTING party performing wayang kulit during this distressed period

[winston]

Fires started by locals within concession areas, says Sime Darby

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Plantation has confirmed that five hotspots were detected from June 11 to 19 in concession areas of PT Bhumireksa Nusa Sejati, a company owned by PT Minamas Gemilang, in Riau province, Sumatra.

However, it said based on satellite data and on-the-ground assessment, the fires were not in areas planted by the company.

“Local communities in these areas plant a variety of cash crops such as corn and sugar cane.

“Under current regulations and conventions dealing with local communities and the preservation of traditional farming methods, concession holders are unable to control or influence the practices and activities of these communities,” Sime Darby Plantation managing director Datuk Franki Anthony Dass said.

PT Minamas is a subsidiary of Sime Darby Plantation and is one of the largest players in the Indonesian plantation industry.

Dass said officials and fire-fighting teams were already assisting local authorities and communities to spot and put out the fires.

He said PT Minamas had conducted awareness programmes with local communities on the negative impact of slash-and-burn activities in peat areas and would intensify these together with other plantation companies and local authorities.

“However, for the longer term, sustainable solutions that do not undermine the rights of local communities and traditional farming methods need to be found. For this to be effective, we need multi-stakeholder discussions,’’ he added.

Dass said PT Minamas had called on all other stakeholders to enter constructive dialogue to find a sustainable solution to address the haze issue proactively.

“It is time for all stakeholders to work together to find a way to address what has become an annual affair and the tremendous toll it takes on the environment and the health of the affected communities on both sides of the Straits of Malacca,’’ he added.

He said local communities, civil society groups, academics and other companies operating in the affected areas should offer technical assistance and support to the Indonesian Government to address the root causes of the problem, but added that these solutions should not undermine the rights of local communities and traditional farming methods.

Dass said 20 of the company’s mills under PT Minamas were certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as businesses that observed high agricultural standards.

Sime Darby Plantation, the world’s largest producer of certified sustainable palm oil, has maintained a zero-burning policy since 1985.


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation

[winston]

For the past 15 years, the politicians said that they will take action against the companies. After 15 years, we are still taking. Bunch of clowns ..

Haze: Show us proof Malaysian firms are involved, Indonesia urged

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will ask Indonesia for proof that Malaysian agricultural companies are involved in open burning in Sumatra, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

He added that he would discuss this matter with Indonesian Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya during their meeting tomorrow.

“They said that many Malaysian companies are involved but we do not know if Indonesian companies are involved as well,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.

On cloud seeding, Palanivel said he would discuss with Indonesia on the possibility of sending Malaysian water bombers there to put out the peat fires.

“Even if we conduct cloud seeding in Malaysia, the haze will keep coming back,” he said.

On opposition claims that the Government had not been acting fast enough on the haze problem, Palanivel said it was usual for the Opposition to criticise the Government for everything.

Separately, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said Malaysia would support Indonesia's action against errant Malaysian companies involved in open burning.

“Please do whatever you have to do under your laws whether it is a Malaysian, Singapore or Indonesian company,” he told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony in Parliament yesterday.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... EWS_Widget

[winston]

Indonesia to charge Malaysian firm over smog-causing fires By Randy Fabi

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia will file charges against the local unit of Malaysia's third-largest palm oil planter over illegal fires that blanketed Singapore and Malaysia with hazardous smog last month, police said on Friday, prompting the company to deny any wrongdoing.

PT Adei Plantations, a unit of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, is the first company to be accused by the police of causing Southeast Asia's worst air pollution crisis in 16 years.

"They are going to be charged with environmental damage," said national police spokesman Ronny Franky Sompie.

Police are investigating four other companies for suspected involvement in the fires but have not identified them. The environment ministry last month named eight Southeast Asian companies as possible suspects.

KL Kepong has denied wrongdoing, saying it has a zero burning policy and the fires were outside its concessions.

An individual found guilty of starting a forest fire can face a jail term of up to 10 years and fines of up to 10 billion rupiah. A guilty company can also have its profits seized, operations shut down and be sued for damages.

An investigation by industry body, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), found no evidence that KL Kepong, a member of the group, was responsible for the fires, a spokesman said.

"The RSPO has cleared KL Kepong of this issue. We have made our statements to the relevant parties and we stand by our statements," said Roy Lim, the company's plantations director.

"Looking again at the satellite data, the hot spots are all outside our territory."

RSPO surveillance documents show Adei concessions cover around 14,900 hectares. Of that total, 800 hectares are controlled by local community members.

More than a dozen people had been arrested for lighting fires, police said. But it was unclear if they were employees of any of the eight named companies or independent farmers.

Some farmers illegally clear land using "slash and burn" techniques during the dry season from June to September.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/indonesia-char ... 18209.html

[winston]

Return of haze, hotspots detected in Indonesia By A MALEX YAHAYA

MALACCA: Bukit Rambai here recorded an unhealthy Air Pollution Index (API) reading of 105 at noon Sunday signalling a possible return to hazy conditions.

According to the Department of Environment (DoE) website, the API reading at 8am was 102.

However, the API reading were 103 and 105 at 10am and 11am respectively.

Melaka City registered moderate API readings of 77 at 8am, 78 (9am), 79 (10am), 79 (11am) and 80 at 12 noon.

API readings between 0 to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and above 300 hazardous.

The number of hotspots in Sumatra has spiked sharply from zero to 159 in a mere four days, causing the haze to return to Peninsular Malaysia.

After weeks of clear skies, unhealthy air quality has been recorded in Bukit Rambai, Malacca, where residents and tourists have already taken to donning masks on their faces.

In Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) says Singapore may experience hazy conditions in the coming days.

Over the next two days, dry weather conditions were expected to persist in most parts of Sumatra.

"Should there be a change in the wind direction from the west, Singapore may experience hazy conditions," the agency said.

The NEA will provide further haze alerts to the public if these events become more likely.

It said the number of hotspots in Sumatra as tracked by the NOAA 18 satellite had gone up sharply in the last two days to reach 159 on Saturday.

"Of these hotspots, 63 are detected in the Riau province in central Sumatra, which is about 280 km from Singapore.

"Some localised smoke plumes are observed to emanate from the hotspots.

"The other hotspots on the island are primarily further north, in Acheh and North Sumatra.

"As the winds are currently from the southeast or south, the smoke haze is not being blown towards Singapore at this time," the NEA said.

It also noted that some states in Peninsular Malaysia have been experiencing a deterioration in their air quality since Saturday afternoon, with the highest Air Pollutant Index reading at 5am Sunday being 98 in Bukit Rambai, Malacca.

As at noon in Singapore, the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was at 20, while the 24-hour PSI was between 19 and 33.


Source: Bernama

[behappyalways]

South East Asia's haze - social media reacts
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34205952

[behappyalways]

Bad haze conditions bring the best out of S’poreans’ Photoshop skills
http://mothership.sg/2015/09/bad-haze-c ... op-skills/

[behappyalways]

'Slow progress' to beat South Sumatra fires
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34341012

[behappyalways]

Here’s how the haze engulfing Singapore looks like from NASA’s satellites
http://mothership.sg/2015/10/heres-how- ... atellites/