【导读】印尼的雾霾事出有因。地方政治势力与商业利益相勾结，焚毁森林，为棕榈油种植园铺路。雾霾铺天盖地，政府几乎无能为力。
Indonesia’s haze
印尼雾霾
Leaders fiddle as Sumatra burns
苏门答腊着火，领导磨洋工
The fires that cause much of the region’s haze have started early this year
引起雾霾的大火已经烧了一段时间了
Mar 22nd 2014 | PEKANBARU AND SINGAPORE | From the print edition
PEKANBARU, the capital of Riau province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, has been shrouded in an acrid white cloud of smoke so dense that visibility is down to 50 metres (about 160 feet). The air quality is officially described as “dangerous”, and most people are wearing face masks, even indoors. Nearly 50,000 people in Riau have already been treated for respiratory, eye or skin problems. All flights last week were cancelled, and only a few have got through since. The provincial governor has declared a state of emergency. The haze is back, and has arrived earlier this year than usual.
在印尼苏门答腊岛廖内省的首府北干巴鲁，白色的刺鼻烟雾覆盖了整座城市，可见度下降到了50米（约160英尺）。官方将空气质量定为「危险」，大多数人戴上了口罩，或者干脆闷声宅家。廖内省已有近50000人接受了呼吸病，眼病，皮肤病的治疗。上周所有的航班都已取消，只有一小部分航班到达此地。廖内省省长宣布了紧急状态。2014年的第一场雾霾，比以往来得更早一些。
Drive to Pekanbaru from the ferries that dock at a north Sumatran port, and you can see what the cause of the problem is: mile upon mile of smouldering or charred land. Much of it is peat-bog, where fires can burn up to two metres underground and take weeks to end. A few minutes in, the inferno stings the eyes and sets off a hacking cough. These fires have been burning for nearly two months. According to Greenpeace, a pressure group, more than 1,000 fires covering at least 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of forest and peatland are burning in Riau. And that is just one province among several with fires blazing.
通过苏门答腊的北部渡口的轮渡，驾车前往北干巴鲁，你就能见到雾霾的罪魁祸首了：千里土地，或在冒烟，或已成焦土。这里大多是泥炭沼，火能烧到地下两米，数周才熄。只要在其中待上几分钟，炼狱的火就会刺痛你的眼睛，外加一阵干咳。大火已经燃烧了近2个月。根据压力团体绿色和平组织的统计，12000公顷（30000英亩）的森林与泥炭地中有1000多个着火点。有好几个省的版图上都有火焰闪动，廖内省只是其中的一个。
For Sumatra, it is an annual environmental trauma. But when the haze drifts across the Strait of Malacca to cover Singapore and Malaysia, it is a regional nightmare, too. Some schools began to close in Malaysia this month; the night air in Singapore smelled of bonfires before rain provided some relief. Last year the haze shattered all air-pollution records in both countries, and diplomatic rows broke out with Indonesia. It will take only a slight change in wind direction for Sumatra’s fires to cause an even bigger haze over the region this year.
这是苏门答腊每年一度的环境灾难。不过当雾霾漫过马六甲海峡，侵入新加坡与马来西亚时，这也就成为了地区性的噩梦。本月一些马来西亚学校开始停课；在雨来清洗城市之前，新加坡的夜空闻着像篝火。去年的雾霾打破了两国的空气污染记录，并引发了两国与印尼的外交争端。只要风向再小变一下，今天的雾霾就会比去年更厉害。
Everyone knows why the haze happens, yet it keeps on occurring. That angers Indonesians as much as Singaporeans and Malaysians. The fires are usually started deliberately, often to clear land to make way for palm-oil plantations. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil. Successive governments have passed a mountain of laws and regulations outlawing burning, yet enforcement is so poor that people carry on regardless. On March 16th, when he dropped in on Riau on an emergency visit, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was “ashamed” of the situation .
人人都知道为啥会产生雾霾，但一年一年还是有雾霾。这让印尼人新加坡人马来西亚人都很恼怒。大火一般是有意点燃的，目的是为了清理土地，为棕榈油种植园腾出空间。印尼是全球最大的棕榈油生产国。一届又一届的政府通过了一堆堆的法律与规则来禁止焚烧，但由于执行力度太差，人们基本视若无睹。3月16日总统苏西洛·班邦·尤多约诺紧急造访了廖内省，并表示他为此感到「惭愧」。
One recent fire illustrates many of the problems. Between Pekanbaru and the east coast is Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu, a huge UNESCO-listed peatland and forest reserve that is home to the Sumatran tiger, among other species. It has been invaded by over 2,000 people from north Sumatra who are clearing the land by burning about 3,000 hectares. Local village heads are suspected of selling plots of land to the newcomers, aided and abetted by a local military officer previously convicted of illegal logging in western Sumatra.
最近的一场火说明了其中的很多问题。 北干巴鲁与东海岸间是Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu生物圈保护区，是联合国教科文组织登记在列的泥炭地与森林保护区，也是苏门答腊虎的栖息地。有北苏门答腊的2000多人入侵此地，点了有3000公顷的火，清理土地。有人怀疑当地村民头头把地块卖给了新来的，而一位被判在西苏门答腊非法砍伐的当地军官可能是幕后黑手。
That points to the habitual collusion between the authorities and those illegally clearing land, both of whom profit from the lucrative palm-oil business. In response to this case, the head of the army in Riau, Prihadi Agus Irianto, has said that it is time for the armed forces to acknowledge that officers are involved in illegal logging and burning. On March 12th a former governor of Riau, Rusli Zainal, was found guilty of graft, including issuing logging licences that resulted in forest destruction. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
这一切都表明，官方与非法清理土地行为间有密不可分的联系，棕榈油生产能让他们发财。作为对此事的回应，廖内省军方首领Prihadi Agus Irianto表示，是时候要让武装部队承认有官员参与进了非法砍伐与纵火。3月12日廖内省的前任省长Rusli Zainal被判犯有贪污罪，他私自签发伐木执照，并导致了森林的毁坏。他被判有期徒刑14年。
Yet, as some Indonesian politicians are keen to point out, the problem is not all down to official corruption. About half of the fires burn on plantations owned by big palm-oil and logging corporations. By law, they are supposed to be responsible for preventing and putting out fires on their concessions, but the regulations are seldom enforced. This year, using satellite imagery, Greenpeace claims to have found fires on land owned by 36 pulp-and-paper companies and 15 palm-oil companies. Many of these are local subsidiaries of Malaysian and Singaporean giants.
不过，正如印尼政治家经常指出的那样，问题不能全归咎于官员腐败。从事棕榈油生产与采伐的大集团放了其中一半的火。从法律上说，他们应该负责防火灭火，但监管很少真正到位。今年，绿色和平组织声称通过卫星图像发现，有36家造纸公司与15家棕榈油公司在其所拥有的土地上有着火点。其中许多是马来西亚与新加坡巨头下属的子公司。
Yet proving a deliberate intent to start the fires has always been hard. The case against one company, Adei Plantation and Industry, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong, listed in Malaysia, is being watched closely. The firm was one of eight accused last year of starting fires, and now—a first in Riau—a local manager and a director have been brought to trial. If found guilty, they face up to ten years in jail and the company could lose its permit.
但要证实纵火有故意目的，总是困难的事。马来西亚注册的Kuala Lumpur Kepong下属子公司Adei Plantation and Industry的案子正受到密切关注。这家公司是去年被控纵火的八家公司之一，也是廖内省内首家地方经理与主管接受审判的公司。如果他们被判有罪，那至多会有十年徒刑，而公司也会失去执照。
The director of a local NGO, Muslim Rasyid of the Network for Riau Forest Rescue, argues that this is a landmark trial, and that if the company is punished, it could act as a deterrent to others. Perhaps, but first the trial has to reach its conclusion. Proceedings have been delayed. The judge, who is based in Jakarta, the capital, could not attend the courtroom last week because planes could not land in the haze.
本地非政府组织Network for Riau Forest Rescue的领导穆斯林Rasyid表示这是一次里程碑式的审判，如果这家公司因此受罚，那将会震慑其他公司。或许如此，但审判首先得有结果。审判进程已然被拖延。首都雅加达的那位法官上周没能出席，因为飞机没法在雾霾中着陆。
From the print edition: Asia
