Because They Cared

For the longest period ever, the nation exhausted its resources to tackle the recent haze disaster. The government struggled like a blindman to manage the crisis, as if the fires were a first-time disaster, instead of an annual problem for the past 18 years. And every year, the affected neighboring countries screamed and yelled, but no firm and systematic responses were adequately taken to prevent a recurrence.

According to estimates of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the large swathes of forests, peatlands and other areas consumed by fires came to about 18 million hectares while other sources quoted 2.6 million hectares, an area four times the size of Bali. Soot-covered fields stretched for miles across six areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan. They also emitted 1,043 tons of carbon dioxide, higher than the 2013 fossil fuel emission produced by Germany and the Netherlands combined.