JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Three local residents have lost their lives while hundreds of thousand of other residents suffer respiratory illnesses due to thick haze from forest fires blanketed parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The last death victim, according to Kompas.com (Oct. 7), is identified as Muhammad Iqbal (31), a local resident in Pekanbaru, Riau. Two previous death victims are a 12-year-old teenager Muhanum Angriawati, also a local resident in Pekanbaru, and Nabila Julia Ramadhani, a 15-month-old baby girl in Jambi.
In addition, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that more than 300,000 cases of respiratory and other related illnesses have been recorded since June 2015.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo himself has repeatedly ordered law enforcement institutions and related ministries to take firm action against companies and individuals allegedly causing forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Around 9 companies and 195 people have been named as suspects behind forest fires by the Police.
Two weeks ago, the President visited forest fires areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan in order to inspect the efforts to extinguish forest fires in the two islands. It was the President’s third visit to the areas. 1,000 additional military officers have been deployed to extinguish forest fires as the order of the President. (haryantosuharman@yosefardi.com)