Indonesia's Fires Have Burned About 1.9 Million Hectares, and Protesters Want a National Disaster Declaration

Indonesia has spent months under a smoke blanket that now covers much of Southeast Asia. The fires started in July. Protesters want the government to call it a national disaster. So far, the government has refused.

The monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas estimates the fires have burned roughly 1.9 million hectares this year, including about one million hectares in September alone.

The health toll

Indonesia's Ministry of Health says it has recorded almost 310,000 cases of acute respiratory illness in the past two months. About 146,000 of those were children under 10.

Dr. Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, says the true number is higher. "Not many people go to the hospital," he said. He added that children are hit hardest because their lungs and immune systems are still developing.

It is too soon to count excess deaths. Four volunteer firefighters were killed battling blazes this month, according to a university researcher who joined the Jakarta protest.

In Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, PM2.5 levels have reportedly passed 3,000 µg/m³, more than 200 times the World Health Organization's guideline. Schoolteacher Natanael Undas has tracked the city's air on Instagram since 2014. He says his 2-year-old daughter sneezes constantly even with the windows shut.

"Usually the rainy season comes in October, but everything is still on fire," Undas said.

Why it is so hard to put out

Slash-and-burn land clearing by small farms and commercial operators starts fires in Indonesia every year. This year, extreme heat and a strong El Niño have dried out forests and peatlands far more than usual.

Peat is the real problem. Firefighter Fauzi Rahman of Palangka Raya says peat soil is so deep that crews must extinguish the fire "all the way down." That can take one or two months, he says, and sometimes longer.

Authorities in South Kalimantan are testing a method that drives pipes up to two meters into the ground to inject water and a firefighting liquid into underground hotspots. Thermal drones help locate the heat.

The government's position

Protesters are demanding that President Prabowo Subianto declare a national emergency, which would unlock more resources. Officials argue that step is unnecessary because enough resources have already been allocated.

The government communications agency said Wednesday, Oct. 28, that it welcomed the students' aspirations. It said 70,000 firefighting personnel had been sent to fire-hit regions and that it was investigating corporations and individuals allegedly involved in starting the fires. Officials also say improving weather and the extra personnel have reduced air pollution in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The protesters are not persuaded. "We want transparent and independent investigations about these wildfires," demonstrator Natasha Ruvantina said. "And also, we want a long-term prevention strategy."

Another protester, 33-year-old university researcher Nurul Amalia, said: "The government claims to be continuously increasing the number of personnel to extinguish it. But we have yet to see any significant progress."

Who is accused

On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Indonesian government said police had identified 20 corporations suspected of involvement in the fires. Four are from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. No charges against any of them have been announced.

Earlier this month, the Indonesian environmental group Walhi named 66 companies with links to Singapore and 27 with links to Malaysia that it said were associated with fire hot spots. That is Walhi's allegation. The Malaysian government has denied that any Malaysian companies are involved. Singapore's government did not respond to a request for comment.

Singapore's air pollution this month hit its highest level since 2015. Singapore officials have threatened to prosecute companies seen as responsible. On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the foreign ministers of Singapore and Indonesia said they were considering a joint task force against illegal land burning.

"We will use the full force of the law to make sure those who profit from fire must answer for the fires," Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said.

Anger beyond the smoke

The haze is not the only grievance. Protesters in Jakarta also cited a weakening currency, higher prices and graft. Police said about 14,000 officers and soldiers were deployed for the Oct. 28 demonstration. The organizing committee, SADAR, called the action a "revolution that is being proclaimed." It was the second Jakarta demonstration in a week.

Prabowo marked two years in office this month. Civil society groups criticize his presidency for wasteful programs, centralized power, attacks on the press and a weakened judiciary. The government says those concerns are being addressed.

His flagship free meals program, a multibillion-dollar effort to fight malnutrition, has drawn the sharpest fire. In June, the head of the national nutrition agency that runs it was arrested on corruption allegations. Thousands of schoolchildren have been sickened by tainted meals, with complaints of maggots and glass in rice.

That is taxpayer money going into a program that has poisoned the kids it was meant to feed, while the same government resists freeing up emergency funds for a fire crisis.

What comes next

The 20 corporate suspects are the immediate test. Indonesia's police have not said whether they will file charges or when. Whether Jakarta and Singapore actually stand up the joint task force is also unresolved, as is whether Prabowo reverses course on a national disaster declaration.

Peat fires can smolder for months, and the rains that normally arrive in October have not put them out.