DPR: Haze Crisis Must be Declared as National Disaster
Translator
Editor
Sabtu, 10 Oktober 2015 22:04 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Deputy Speaker of Commission IV, which oversees agriculture, food, forestry, plantation and maritime affairs, of the House of Representatives Herman Khaeron, said that Commission IV of the DPR had called on the government to declare the current haze crisis as national disaster.
“When the scope of the disaster is very big, when it affects more than one countries and provinces, we at Commission IV agree to declare the haze crisis as a national disaster,” said Herman in Jakarta on Saturday (10/10).
According to Herman, areas that have been burned reach 1,697 million hectares. In Kalimantan, he added, 770,000 hectares, 220,000 of it is peat lands, are burned.
“The most affected area is Central Kalimantan, where 442, 000 hectares were burned,” he said, adding that this year’s haze crisis is likely to claim many lives.
Herman added that seen from the scope of the disaster, the haze crisis can be categorized as an extraordinary disaster and since it has a national consequence, the funding to tackle it must at a national level.
ARKHELAUS WISNU