Jakarta, Sep 13 (Xinhua) Humans remained the number one cause of disasters in Indonesia in 2006, a local newspaper said Thursday, quoting the government’s environmental report.
The fifth edition of the 279-page report named forest fires, the mudflow in East Java and flooding in several regions as the country’s worst disasters.
“In 2006, we more frequently recorded disasters than in previous years,” State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar was quoted by English daily the Jakarta Post as saying.
Haze from forest fires had blanketed Sumatra and Kalimantan as well as neighbouring countries and worsened air quality in the affected areas.
Indonesia exported thick haze to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand during peak forest fires last August, the report said.
It also says the smoke shrouds about 524 million hectares of land on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands and raises particulate matter pollution to an alarming level.
The suffocating smoke from the forest fires has been blamed on local farmers and companies clearing land for new plantations by using illegal slash-and-burn methods during the dry season.
The second worst disaster, according to the report, is the hot mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.
The report said the disaster has affected residents socially, economically and environmentally.
In May 2006 a gas drilling well owned by PT Lapindo Brantas hit an underground mud volcano. Since then, mud has spewed from the site, leaving more than 9,000 people homeless.
The report said the levels of metal pollutants in the mud, including zinc, copper, lead and cadmium exceeded tolerable limits.
The ministry said the metals, along with phenol pollutants, had reached the Porong River in October, raising concerns about local wildlife and fish stocks.
Meanwhile, floods hit almost every provinces in the country last year, caused by poor land use management by city administrations and widespread deforestation.
The report recorded that there were 44 big floods and 31 landslides last year.