'How is it possible?': Students protest Indonesian haze
Summary
Hundreds of students protested late Friday in Palangkaraya, Indonesia, calling for stronger government action as wildfire smoke blanketed the city and region for months. They urged authorities to declare a national emergency so more aid could be made available. The demonstrators sang a patriotic song and had light skirmishes with police, then dispersed peacefully without reported injuries or arrests.
Key Facts
- Nusantara Atlas, a deforestation monitor, estimated that wildfires burned more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September; the government had neither confirmed nor denied the figure.
- The haze sickened hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia and reached Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.
- Protest leader Yuyun Sanjaya called on the Central Kalimantan provincial government to acknowledge it could not mitigate the disaster so it could be officially designated a national disaster.
- On Thursday, school children on Java island prayed for rain as fires ravaged several regencies and conservation areas.
A man rides a bicycle on the main road passing a statue as haze from wildfires shrouds the area, Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, Oct. 24. Reuters-Yonhap
PALANGKARAYA, Indonesia — Hundreds of students protested late Friday in Indonesia's Palangkaraya, demanding the government do more to tackle a wildfire crisis that has shrouded their city and the wider region in toxic haze for months.
The students, many wearing surgical masks, gathered under an eerily orange sky with severely reduced visibility and waved banners urging authorities to declare a national emergency to free up more aid.
"The officials are morons, yet they get fantastic perks while the lives of the common people are tragic," read one protest placard nailed to a wall outside the office of the governor of Central Kalimantan -- an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo where the fires are taking place.
University students protest against the government's handling of haze and wildfires outside the Central Kalimantan Governor's office, Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, Oct. 23. Reuters-Yonhap
The demonstrators sang the Indonesia Pusaka patriotic song and engaged in light skirmishes with police.
No injuries or arrests were reported and as night fell, the protesters cleared up their trash before dispersing peacefully.
"We call upon the Central Kalimantan provincial government to state clearly that it is unable to mitigate this disaster, so that the situation may be officially designated a national disaster," protest leader Yuyun Sanjaya told the crowd.
"How is it possible that such thick, dense smoke is being inhaled by helpless elderly people and newborn infants, and the government simply lets it happen?"
Wildfires have burned more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September, according to deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas -- a figure the government has not confirmed or denied.
The resulting haze has sickened hundreds of thousands in Indonesia and reached as far as Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor.
Amid diplomatic objections from neighboring countries, patience has also been running thin at home, with sporadic anti-government protests.
On Thursday, Indonesian school children prayed for rain on Java island, where fires have also ravaged several regencies and conservation areas.
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