Toxic haze from Kalimantan is killing thousands and souring relations with neighbours. Students and NGOs are now in the streets, demanding accountability.

Smoke from Indonesian fires killed an estimated 3,560 people in September, according to desktop analyses by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, while 57.8 million Indonesians were inhaling “unhealthy-to-hazardous air”.

Although the estimates haven’t been backed by figures from hospitals and clinics on the ground, there’s still no doubt the forest fires in Kalimantan province (on Borneo) are having a major impact on health and transport across the region, smoke reportedly poisoning people in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The fires have allegedly been set by workers following the orders of the big conglomerates making fortunes (ten of the alleged offenders are Singapore companies) refining bio-products that are already supplementing imported fossil fuels at a time of shortage.

Some firestick farmers have been prosecuted: 245 people and 20 companies have been labelled “suspects in forest and land fire cases across the country”, according to the Criminal Investigation Agency.

Whether these people will ever appear in court is another matter.

Eventually the smoke will clear as winds shift and the rainy season starts. But the wretched mess will return next year as it always has, unless there’s a change in the political weather.

More people live in........

© Pearls and Irritations