A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Forest and land fires which occurred in some of the islands of Borneo (Kalimantan) and Sumatra resulted in a very dense haze, with conditions on the round getting more and more serious. The Centre for Health Crisis of Ministry of Health reported that the forest fire which caused this haze started on 1 March 2015 in Riau Province. By now the affected area spread into seven other provinces, four in Kalimantan (West, East, South and Central Kalimantan) and three in Sumatra Island (Jambi, Riau and South Sumatera). In the last few weeks, the haze has also affected neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The intensification of this disaster is the consequence of El Niño in the region, with severe droughts and significant delay of the rainy season, therefore preventing the effect of the rain on forest fires.
BMKG (National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency) recorded the number of hotspots as 1,200 points spread in Sumatra and Borneo (where Kalimantan region is located). On the island of Sumatra, there are 771 hotspots spread across several provinces, including Bengkulu (33 points), Jambi (99 points), Bangka Belitung (41 points), Lampung (42 points), Riau (28 points), West Sumatra (8 points) and South Sumatra with 530 points. On the island of Borneo, 429 hot spots spread across 4 provinces, namely West Kalimantan (154 points), South Kalimantan (65 points), Central Kalimantan (74 points) and 136 points in East Kalimantan.
The highest air pollutan safety index (API), 1,950 ugram/m3, was recorded on 21 October 2015 in Central Kalimantan Province (normal 0 to 50 ugram/m3), while in other provinces the reported levels were:
o Riau Province: 596 ugram/m3
o Jambi: 407 ugram/m3
o South Sumatera: 300 ugram/m3 on 29 September
o West Kalimantan: 784 ugram/m3 on 28 September
o South Kalimantan: 171.37 ugram/m3 on 28 September
Hot weather conditions and thick smoke combined with the impact of El Niño throughout the country made the API level even worse while people, especially children, pregnant women, elderly and people with pre-existing condition, become more vulnerable to upper respiratory tract infection (URI), eye irritation, pneumonia, asthma, skin irritation, and even death. In addition, visibility is in the range of 20 to 500 meters which also causes delays or even cancelation of flight schedules in various provinces. This disaster also hampers daily activities and causes schools, universities and some offices to close down. The death toll recorded so far is three people in Riau Province and one person in South Sumatera Province