Who Is
Accountable for Indonesia's Fire Disaster?
What
do mostly foreign scientists really know about the Indonesian climate?
Suddenly Indonesia’s world went dark. Out
of the blue, the driest dry season in decades struck, and everything and
everyone started burning. Before long, half of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra
had mysteriously gone on fire— a true natural disaster!
A few
months ago, there was a buzz going around the Indonesian Ministry of
Environment and Forestry. Under the new president, they had finally managed to
merge with the previously independent Ministry of Environment. A long-term
dream had come through. From now on, the government would be able to
simultaneously manage the nation’s environment and forests, for the good of the
Indonesian people, as is stated in Indonesia’s constitution.
And the
signs of success were already on the wall. After thorough study, the Department
of Forest Fire showed that between 2010 and 2014 the total number of fire
hotpots in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Sulawesi decreased yearly from 47,112 in
2010 to 19,316 in 2014. Effective governance?
At the start of 2015, it all still looked good. The
website of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry reports that between Jan. 1
and July 30 July this year, there were only 5,284 hotspots, compared to the
12,068 in the same period in 2014. The authorities were clearly on top of the
fire issue. All signs suggested they would finally get rid of the annual
scourge of fire and haze.
Of
course, there were some pesky scientists mumbling things about El Nino climate
forecasts predicting a drought unlike any the country had seen before. But
what do these mostly foreign scientists really know about the Indonesian
climate?
Then
suddenly the world went dark. Out of the blue, the driest dry season in decades
struck, and everything and everyone started burning. Before long, half of
Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra had mysteriously gone on fire— a true natural
disaster!
The Global Forest Watch fires
tool indicates that from July 1 to Oct. 6 2015, there were a total 69,413 fire
alerts in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra. So suddenly things had gone awfully
wrong. And according to many, this natural disaster was totally unexpected.
But did
no one in the government read the papers? This year’s El Nino was on many
people’s radar from early in 2015. Surely the 1997-98 El Nino and resulting
fire disaster is still burned in the memory of at least a few top-level
decision-makers. It should have been obvious that it would be a really bad fire
year again. And what did the responsible government authorities do to prevent
this man-made, not natural disaster? Not enough, apparently.
Why is
no one in the government taking responsibility? Has anyone said “sorry”? Has
anyone been fired or resigned because of his or her failure to predict and
prevent the present disaster? The government has had long-standing programs to
prevent land fires and clearly these are not working. Where is the accountability?
Compare
this to football. Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool’s manager, was recently
sacked after blowing 250 million pounds ($386 million) on new players, but
without increasing the performance of the team. That same week two other
Premier League managers either resigned or were fired because of disappointing
results. Even “the Special One,” Jose Mourinho, is under pressure after his
League-winning Chelsea managed only eight points from eight games.
Others
who may be given the sack include Stuart Lancaster who led the English rugby
team to their disastrous exit from the Rugby World Cup, and chief executive
Martin Winterkorn of Volkswagen who went for early retirement after some pretty
nasty finds about the company he managed.
Even
some high-level politicians recently resigned. The Guatemalan president, Otto
Perez Molina, stepped down in September after being accused of bribery. And in
England, John Sewel, deputy speaker of Britain’s House of Lords, resigned after
The Sun published photos and video allegedly showing him snorting lines of
cocaine with prostitutes. Well, that’s fair enough, I guess.
Many
people in the world take accountability for messing up or under-performing. But
why has no official stepped forward in Indonesia to put up his or her hand,
said mea culpa and acknowledged the failure to avoid an
environmental and social disaster that is costing the country and its neighbors
at least $47 billion --
and counting? That is 0.5 percent of Indonesia’s GDP. At few months of
economic growth out of the window along with the haze.
Shouldn’t
at least someone in the government take responsibility for its failure to do
anything to prevent the fire and haze disaster? Of course there has been a
recent cabinet reshuffle. But still, if someone would step down it would at
least indicate that the government takes its role as the responsible manager of
the country seriously.
Reading
the news, I am not convinced that this is how the government sees its role. For
example, the head of the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) told an
international audience to stop complaining because Indonesia is doing all it can.
But is that true? Could Indonesia not have been better prepared to prevent and
fight fires in an El Nino?
Surely,
the country could have developed policies allowing a full fire ban in
exceptional circumstances, or make budgets available for effective rapid
reaction to stop initial fires from spreading. None of these seem to have been
sufficiently in place, suggesting that the government was not prepared and
could have done more.
If
Indonesia is indeed going to address the fire and haze problem in the next
three years as suggested by President Joko Widodo, then the people in charge
better get the strategies and laws in place now to act immediately when
required. Also, there has to be recognition that someone in government is
ultimately responsible for solving the problem, and needs to be held
accountable for failing to do so or rewarded for succeeding. Such transparent
governance is the least the government can do to reward voters for their trust.
It might
be a good idea for some senior government officials and legislators
involved in the fire and haze issue to spend the next few weeks in Kalimantan’s
or Sumatra’s peat lands and help fight fires. Kudos to the president
for actually having been out there.
Maybe
that kind of up close and personal experience of health impacts, failed
harvests and canceled flights might get the message across that fires and haze
are not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster.
It might
also clarify that ultimately the government is responsible for solving the
problem.
Erik
Meijaard coordinates the Borneo Futures initiative.
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