Indonesian Borneo is choking on haze as fires intensify amid a ‘super’ El Niño, with visibility reduced to just five meters in some areas. Suwadi, a resident of Kalimantan, described the experience of breathing in the thick smoke as ‘like smoking a cigarette.’ The haze has triggered a trans-boundary issue, threatening Malaysia and Singapore, and has led to a spike in emergency room visits in West Kalimantan, with around 5,000 people arriving with respiratory symptoms each week since July.
The fires, which have raged across tens of thousands of acres of land, including ancient rainforest, are often blamed on ‘slash and burn’ techniques used to clear land for plantations that produce palm oil. Authorities say this year’s ‘super’ El Niño may be intensifying the blazes, with the weather phenomenon expected to peak in September. Experts have warned that the worst could be yet to come as the dry season continues into October, and the rains that could extinguish the fires look unlikely before November.
The haze has become a regional issue, with Malaysia and Brunei agreeing to raise it at ASEAN as thick smoke from forest and peatland fires drifts across the border. On Tuesday, the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, was the most polluted city on earth, followed by Jakarta, according to air quality monitoring company IQAir. Almost 600 schools in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island closed due to hot and dry conditions, and Singapore went on alert.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has ordered authorities to revoke the business permits of corporations suspected of directing the land clearing, and Indonesian police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting fires in Borneo and Sumatra. However, some Indonesians have expressed frustration at what they see as government inaction against the companies allegedly involved.
Experts say that Indonesia’s unique rainforests are home to peatland ecosystems, which should be naturally resilient to fire when water tables remain high. However, drainage networks built to clear land for pulp and oil palm plantations have robbed the soil of its natural capacity to retain water, making fires on degraded peatlands more difficult to control.
Justin Sentian, a professor in climate change at Universiti Malaysia Sabahand, says that true prevention must address the soil itself by halting the conversion of peatlands and actively restoring degraded areas. ‘If authorities only act after hotspots appear, they will forever be playing catch-up,’ he warns.
As the situation continues to deteriorate, Suwadi fears for the future of the region. ‘The fire is getting dangerously close to homes,’ he says, ‘People are in panic now.’
