Wednesday, August 15, 2007
8/15/2007 07:38:00 AM
8/15/2007 07:38:00 AM
VMY'07 : Welcome To Our Haze Season
posted by Francis Ho
Bellowing smokes spotted on Sunday, 12 August 2007 @ Borneo Highlands somewhere near Kg Karu; and coming to a city near you.
We were on our way back from Kg Semadang after a fun-filled day of kayaking when we spotted bellowing clouds of smoke up ahead in the distance. Thinking that it could have been a forest fire, we were soon corrected by passing the villagers there that it was actually deliberate forest burnings to clear the land for farming; as the hot and dry weather over the past week had created perfect conditions to do this. They were certainly right. Malaysia boleh. *sigh*
Perfectly dark clouds over perfectly blue skies in an inperfect worldDon't hold your breathe as I guess they'll soon be doing pretty much the same thing - except on a much bigger and grander scale over on the other side of the Bengoh range in Kalimantan Indonesia. Welcome to the coming haze season folks. *gasp*
Man-made dark clouds over Borneo Highlands - when will we ever learn?
Man-made dark clouds over Borneo Highlands - when will we ever learn?Labels: Kuching Skies, Rantings
Stumble It!5 Comments:
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Post a Comment At Wednesday, 15 August, 2007 
Wuching said:
quick! go put out the fire!
At Wednesday, 15 August, 2007 Francis Ho said:
wuching - yeah; and get my head lopped off n my body thrown into the fire! ;)
The best I can do is to put the spotlight on this matter so as to put pressure on the authorities to take some action and for people to care and not be apathetic about this issue.
The best I can do is to put the spotlight on this matter so as to put pressure on the authorities to take some action and for people to care and not be apathetic about this issue.
At Thursday, 16 August, 2007 
said:
No burning, no rice, no food. I've known locals who got fined for burning their farms. But the scale of farm burning is decreasing today because (1) land sizes for farming are shrinking due to shortage of labor; (2) more villagers esp. youths are working outside; (3) more locals are beginning to buy rice in the towns; and (4) the time for burning farmlands is relatively short these days.
What puzzles me most is that there are thousands of hectares being burnt every year for palm oil plantation in the Bintulu, Marudi and Miri areas. And not to mention in the 1st and 2nd divisions of this state. Funny how the 'authorities' don't occasionally fine these polluters as well, since they are the biggest contributors to the haze we inhale today... hhm
What puzzles me most is that there are thousands of hectares being burnt every year for palm oil plantation in the Bintulu, Marudi and Miri areas. And not to mention in the 1st and 2nd divisions of this state. Funny how the 'authorities' don't occasionally fine these polluters as well, since they are the biggest contributors to the haze we inhale today... hhm
Call in the helicopter gunships. It's time to clean up the atmosphere, the forest, and the gene pool.
(No, I'm not being serious.)
(No, I'm not being serious.)
At Thursday, 16 August, 2007 Francis Ho said:
langkau fiction - if we have to feed our families like the farmers; we would be burning (a tiny portion of)the forests too. But we all know that the haze problem is caused by the burning of thousands upon thousands of hectares of forest land not for food but for money to the oil palm plantations.
mm - haha ;o)I wished you were! Now I'm not being serious either.
mm - haha ;o)I wished you were! Now I'm not being serious either.