Indonesia
rejects U.S. research estimate of 100,000 'haze' deaths
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[September 20, 2016]
By Fergus Jensen and Bernadette Christina Munthe
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Harvard and Columbia
university research showing smoke from land fires in Southeast Asia led
to more than 100,000 premature deaths last year "makes no sense at all,"
an official at Indonesia's Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
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Indonesian government records show only 24 deaths related to forest
fires in 2015, but the disaster was estimated to have left more than
half a million Indonesians suffering from respiratory ailments.
Indonesia is under global pressure to put an end to slash-and-burn
land clearances for palm and pulp plantations which send clouds of
toxic smoke over the region each year.
The university research estimates pollution exposure from last
year's fires killed 91,600 people in Indonesia, 6,500 in Malaysia
and 2,200 in Singapore in 2015 and 2016, significantly higher than
government records.
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"Given the severe haze in Equatorial Asia in 2015, the 100,000
premature deaths in that region are not so surprising," said Loretta
Mickley, a senior researcher at Harvard focusing on atmospheric
pollution, who contributed to the research.
Health Ministry director general of disease prevention and control
Mohamad Subuh told Reuters the research data was wrong.
"Data on deaths is clear. We have surveillance," Subuh said, adding
that the assumptions of mortality based on mathematical calculations
were "irresponsible".
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Every year, Indonesia faces criticism from its neighbors Singapore
and Malaysia over the smog, euphemistically known as "haze", and its
failure to stop the fires from being lit.
Last year's fires were among the worst in the region's history, with
billions of dollars worth of environmental damage, weeks of flight
and school disruptions and thousands suffering from respiratory
disease.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
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