JAKARTA: The head of Indonesia’s Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) Nazir Foead said that he is "very optimistic" there will be no fires this year in the peatlands under his supervision.
Speaking to CNA in an exclusive interview on Monday (Jul 20), he said that the agency has improved the methods for preventing fires from happening this time round.
He said that BRG has set up about 150 sensors in non-concession peatlands that can measure the water and moisture level every hour.
These readings would indicate how susceptible the peatlands are to fires. They will also give an indication if someone has purposely drained the peatland with the aim of setting fires to clear the land.
The BRG would send this information to relevant authorities, including law enforcers.
When asked how optimistic he is that no fires will happen this year, Mr Foead replied: "Very optimistic because we are working very hard.”
The meteorological, climatological, and geophysical agency (BMKG) has predicted a wetter dry season this year, which would also lower the chances of forest and land fires happening.
Despite this, the other government agencies have warned the BRG to remain vigilant, especially amid COVID-19, said Mr Foead.
The pandemic has brought economic hardship as a result of social restrictions put in place to curb the disease and now millions in Indonesia are out of jobs.
“They warned us. They said that those capitalists (brokers) who want to use this opportunity to clear land using fires will find it cheaper to pay people to burn land,” he said.
“(Because) people need more money.”
This picture taken on Sep 19, 2019 shows firefighters battling a forest fire near Pekanbaru, Riau. Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to a hard-hit area. (Photo: AFP/Wahyudi)
Authorities have long said that forest and land fires are man-made to clear land, worsened by dry weather.
“So they (authorities) warned us: ‘Be prudent, be prepared, you need to have a stronger intelligence, stronger patrols … The bad capitalists out there are trying to gain an advantage in the situation.
"There’s always those kinds of people and this year they can find easier and cheaper troops to do that,” Mr Foead said.
“So the danger is still high.”
After Indonesia experienced huge forest and land fires in 2015, which resulted in deaths, economic loss and transboundary haze, President Joko Widodo set up the BRG in Jan 2016 to prevent similar incidents.
89% OF NON-CONCESSION PEATLAND HAS BEEN RESTORED
When the agency was first set up, Mr Foead said his team spent the first year planning how to restore peatlands which includes rewetting, revegetating, and revitalising economic livelihood in seven provinces where peatlands are mainly found.
Peatland is an accumulation of multiple layers of organic material such as mosses and plants.
Thus, when it gets burned, the fires would be harder to extinguish than fires on mineral soil as the flames would continue to smoulder beneath the surface.
In the provinces of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua, the BRG is continuously educating people about the importance of peatland restoration, he said.
There are about 2.6 million ha of peatland in the seven provinces, about 1.7 million ha of them are on concession lands which are the responsibility of companies.
The companies are mainly dealing with palm oil, pulp and paper as well as timber.
The environment and forestry ministry is responsible for overseeing peatland on concession lands, while the BRG is responsible for about 900,000 ha of peatland on non-concession lands which are community lands.
Mr Foead said that 89 per cent of the peatland on non-concession land has been restored as of the end of 2019. The target set by the government is to achieve 100 per cent by the end of this year.
Mr Foead noted how local farmers have taken ownership of the peatlands and have even planted pineapples, vegetables and coffee on the lands.
Fire raging in Jambi, Indonesia on Sep 25, 2019. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
Commenting on the remaining target, he said: “We are confident when it comes to the non-concession lands.”
However, he noted that forest and land fires are not only dependent on the moisture level of peatland. Tough law enforcement is also crucial to ensure people would not deliberately set fires anymore.
PEATLAND RESTORATION "CANNOT BE DONE QUICKLY"
Mr Foead told CNA that peatland restoration should be a long term effort, as the land cannot be rehabilitated in a short period of time.
He explained that if peatland has been drained since 1999, for example, it would need 10 or even 20 years to be restored.
“Based on cases abroad, there are even instances which take up to 30 years. Even those have not restored completely,” Mr Foead said.
“So ecosystem restoration takes time. It cannot be done quickly.”
Peatland that has been razed by fire. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
The BRG chief, who used to work for the World Wildlife Fund also said that his agency is trying new methods of peatland mapping, which combines coring with three-dimensional satellite images.
With an improved methodology, the agency will have access to land categorisation data. It can then take samples according to every category, which is a quicker and cheaper way of mapping.
Considering the new technologies and methods the BRG now has, backed up by civil society, communities, and governments as well as policies, Mr Foead is hopeful that Indonesia can be a champion in peatland restoration.
“I would really like to see that we will prove this is the most effective way in protecting, maintaining and restoring peatlands.
“We have a lot to share with the world, mostly tropical countries that have huge peatlands. Or maybe any rehabilitation programme in any biome, not only peatlands but also wetland habitats, we can share a lot.”
SINGAPORE - A secretary was aware that her Singapore-based firm and related companies were unlawfully supplying luxury items to North Korea, but she failed to alert the authorities as she feared losing her job .
Singaporean Lam Hon Lan, 40, was fined $6,000 on Tuesday (July 21) after pleading guilty to three charges under the United Nations Act involving perfumes and cosmetics worth more than $82,000.
The court considered 40 other similar charges involving goods worth nearly $500,000 during sentencing.
United Nations sanctions prohibit people in Singapore or Singaporeans outside the country from selling or supplying certain luxury items to anyone in North Korea.
Anyone with information about such transactions must alert the authorities.
Police said in an earlier statement that Lam, who was working for SCN Singapore at the time of the offences, also handled administrative matters for two other firms - Sindok Trading and Laurich International.
The court heard on Tuesday that these companies unlawfully supplied luxury items to four North Korean organisations from December 2010 to November 2016.
One of them, the Korean Bugsae Shop, was owned by North Korean Li Ik.
Li Ik's son, Li Hyon, had studied in Singapore before helping his father with the luxury goods business here.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min said the bulk of the luxury items were supplied by SCN Singapore directly to the shop.
They were shipped to North Korea by air through Beijing or via freight vessels via Dalian in China, as well as by hand through airport check-ins.
Lam's job included sourcing the luxury items and issuing export documents, as well as arranging for shipments to the North Korean organisations.
The offences came to light after Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department received information that SCN Singapore had "significant sales" to more than one entity in North Korea.
Li Hyon, 32, was jailed for four weeks last month after pleading guilty to four counts of engaging in a conspiracy with other people and two companies - including SCN Singapore - to deliver luxury goods such as cosmetics and spirits to North Korea.
The cases involving SCN Singapore,Sindok Trading and Laurich International are pending.
Committing offences under the Act before March 10, 2014, can bring jail terms of up to five years and fines. Offences committed after March 10, 2014, can result in jail sentences of up to 10 years and fines.
JAKARTA: The head of Indonesia’s Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) Nazir Foead said that he is "very optimistic" there will be no fires this year in the peatlands under his supervision.
Speaking to CNA in an exclusive interview on Monday (Jul 20), he said that the agency has improved the methods for preventing fires from happening this time round.
He said that BRG has set up about 150 sensors in non-concession peatlands that can measure the water and moisture level every hour.
These readings would indicate how susceptible the peatlands are to fires. They will also give an indication if someone has purposely drained the peatland with the aim of setting fires to clear the land.
The BRG would send this information to relevant authorities, including law enforcers.
When asked how optimistic he is that no fires will happen this year, Mr Foead replied: "Very optimistic because we are working very hard.”
The meteorological, climatological, and geophysical agency (BMKG) has predicted a wetter dry season this year, which would also lower the chances of forest and land fires happening.
Despite this, the other government agencies have warned the BRG to remain vigilant, especially amid COVID-19, said Mr Foead.
The pandemic has brought economic hardship as a result of social restrictions put in place to curb the disease and now millions in Indonesia are out of jobs.
“They warned us. They said that those capitalists (brokers) who want to use this opportunity to clear land using fires will find it cheaper to pay people to burn land,” he said.
“(Because) people need more money.”
This picture taken on Sep 19, 2019 shows firefighters battling a forest fire near Pekanbaru, Riau. Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to a hard-hit area. (Photo: AFP/Wahyudi)
Authorities have long said that forest and land fires are man-made to clear land, worsened by dry weather.
“So they (authorities) warned us: ‘Be prudent, be prepared, you need to have a stronger intelligence, stronger patrols … The bad capitalists out there are trying to gain an advantage in the situation.
"There’s always those kinds of people and this year they can find easier and cheaper troops to do that,” Mr Foead said.
“So the danger is still high.”
After Indonesia experienced huge forest and land fires in 2015, which resulted in deaths, economic loss and transboundary haze, President Joko Widodo set up the BRG in Jan 2016 to prevent similar incidents.
89% OF NON-CONCESSION PEATLAND HAS BEEN RESTORED
When the agency was first set up, Mr Foead said his team spent the first year planning how to restore peatlands which includes rewetting, revegetating, and revitalising economic livelihood in seven provinces where peatlands are mainly found.
Peatland is an accumulation of multiple layers of organic material such as mosses and plants.
Thus, when it gets burned, the fires would be harder to extinguish than fires on mineral soil as the flames would continue to smoulder beneath the surface.
In the provinces of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua, the BRG is continuously educating people about the importance of peatland restoration, he said.
There are about 2.6 million ha of peatland in the seven provinces, about 1.7 million ha of them are on concession lands which are the responsibility of companies.
The companies are mainly dealing with palm oil, pulp and paper as well as timber.
The environment and forestry ministry is responsible for overseeing peatland on concession lands, while the BRG is responsible for about 900,000 ha of peatland on non-concession lands which are community lands.
Mr Foead said that 89 per cent of the peatland on non-concession land has been restored as of the end of 2019. The target set by the government is to achieve 100 per cent by the end of this year.
Mr Foead noted how local farmers have taken ownership of the peatlands and have even planted pineapples, vegetables and coffee on the lands.
Fire raging in Jambi, Indonesia on Sep 25, 2019. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
Commenting on the remaining target, he said: “We are confident when it comes to the non-concession lands.”
However, he noted that forest and land fires are not only dependent on the moisture level of peatland. Tough law enforcement is also crucial to ensure people would not deliberately set fires anymore.
PEATLAND RESTORATION "CANNOT BE DONE QUICKLY"
Mr Foead told CNA that peatland restoration should be a long term effort, as the land cannot be rehabilitated in a short period of time.
He explained that if peatland has been drained since 1999, for example, it would need 10 or even 20 years to be restored.
“Based on cases abroad, there are even instances which take up to 30 years. Even those have not restored completely,” Mr Foead said.
“So ecosystem restoration takes time. It cannot be done quickly.”
Peatland that has been razed by fire. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
The BRG chief, who used to work for the World Wildlife Fund also said that his agency is trying new methods of peatland mapping, which combines coring with three-dimensional satellite images.
With an improved methodology, the agency will have access to land categorisation data. It can then take samples according to every category, which is a quicker and cheaper way of mapping.
Considering the new technologies and methods the BRG now has, backed up by civil society, communities, and governments as well as policies, Mr Foead is hopeful that Indonesia can be a champion in peatland restoration.
“I would really like to see that we will prove this is the most effective way in protecting, maintaining and restoring peatlands.
“We have a lot to share with the world, mostly tropical countries that have huge peatlands. Or maybe any rehabilitation programme in any biome, not only peatlands but also wetland habitats, we can share a lot.”
LONDON (REUTERS) - The University of Oxford’s possible Covid-19 vaccine could be rolled out by the end of the year but there is no certainty that will happen, the lead developer of the vaccine said on Tuesday (July 21).
The experimental vaccine, which has been licensed to AstraZeneca, produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials, data showed on Monday, preserving hopes it could be in use by the end of the year.
“The end of the year target for getting vaccine roll-out, it’s a possibility but there’s absolutely no certainty about that because we need three things to happen,” Sarah Gilbert told BBC Radio. She said it needed to be shown to work in late-stage trials, there needed to be large quantities manufactured and regulators had to agree quickly to license it for emergency use.
“All of these three things have to happen and come together before we can start seeing large numbers of people vaccinated,” she said.
The Oxford scientists had eyed a million doses of the potential vaccine to be produced by September.
Although the deal with AstraZeneca has provided manufacturing capacity to do that, the lower prevalence of the novel coronavirus in Britain has complicated the process of proving its efficacy.
Late-stage trials are under way in Brazil and South Africa and are due to start in the United States.
“The crucial thing is that we get enough people exposed to the virus who’ve also had the vaccine that we can actually get some proper adjudication of whether it prevents the disease and remains safe,” John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, told BBC Radio.
“We’re hopeful, particularly given the low incident rates in the UK that the individuals recruited in Brazil and South Africa will ultimately be able to provide us with the data.”
There are no approved vaccines for Covid-19, but the World Health Organisation has said AstraZeneca’s shot is one of the leading candidates.
SINGAPORE - Popular Los Angeles egg sandwich brand Eggslut is set to debut in Singapore early next year (2021).
In a press release sent exclusively to The Straits Times, South Korea-based global food company SPC Group announced that it "holds the exclusive license" to operate Eggslut in Singapore. The outlet's location is yet to be confirmed.
LOS ANGELES: The COVID-19 pandemic raged in Florida on Monday (Jul 21) as the state reported more than 10,000 new infections for a sixth day in a row, but California saw improvement, with cases and hospitalisations beginning to stabilise after a surge.
Florida has become the epicentre of the latest COVID-19 surge, prompting the state's teachers union to sue Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over his plan to reopen schools for in-class instruction.
In California, which emerged as another coronavirus hotspot in July, Governor Gavin Newsom said new infections, hospitalisations and intensive care unit admissions were all still rising in the nation's most populous state but not nearly at the pace of recent weeks.
"We are seeing a reduction in the rate of growth but a rate of growth nonetheless," Newsom, a Democrat, said at a briefing in Sacramento.
"Hospitalisations and ICU (admissions) continue to be cause of concern in this state. That's why we want everybody to double down on what we've been doing," the governor said.
Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived to pitch in at strapped Southern California hospitals.
"We really pushed up last week to our limits. If we had continued to see accelerating number of cases coming into the hospital, something would have to give," said Dr. Allan Williamson, chief medical officer at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, east of Los Angeles.
"So fortunately, the federal government, through the Department of Defense was able to step in and provide us some additional staffing, which has really helped us a lot," Williamson said.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, has more than once threatened to impose a new "stay-at-home" order in America's second-largest city if trends were not reversed. California's high school sports authority postponed fall competitions, including football, altering a rite of passage for many Americans.
People are seen at the Statue of Liberty as New York enters Phase 4 of reopening following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, on Jul 20, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)
TRUMP TWEETS FACE MASK PHOTO
Florida reported 10,347 new infections on Monday, the sixth day in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new cases. Another 92 people died in Florida, increasing the state's death toll to 5,183.
DeSantis, who has been sharply criticized for his handling of the crisis, said over the weekend that positivity rates and COVID-19-related emergency room visits have been trending lower in recent weeks.
New York, which has recorded far more deaths than any other U.S. state, 32,000, recorded only eight fatalities on Sunday.
The total number of people hospitalised in New York for the disease fell to 716, the fewest since Mar 18, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Restrictions were eased slightly with zoos and the Statue of Liberty reopening as well as professional sports without fans.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, imposed new clamp-downs, including a ban on indoor service at bars and shutdown of personal services such as shaves and facials that require the removal of masks.
"While we aren't near the peak of the pandemic from earlier this year, none of us wants to go back there," Lightfoot said in a statement.
Metrics nationwide show a continued surge in the pandemic, with 32 states reporting record increases in COVID-19 cases in July and 15 states reporting record increases in deaths.
The illness has killed 140,000 people in the United States and infected some 3.7 million, both figures leading the world.
President Donald Trump, who had pushed back on mask requirements by state and local officials, on Monday posted a black and white photo of himself wearing one on Twitter.
"We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!," Trump said in a tweet.
Trump also said he would resume holding regular COVID-19 news briefings on Tuesday after stopping in April.
