Burning Issues

Monday, June 15, 1998

A burning issue

Story by Meng Yew Choong

WHILE plantations, which tend to be owned by large corporations, could still get by (albeit at a cost) without using fire, the same cannot be said of the tens of thousands of smallholders or subsistence farmers. These people often do not have the massive resources needed to practise zero-burning agricultural techniques. For these farmers, fire is a multipurpose tool, says Datuk Ahmad Arshad, president of the National Association of Smallholders. Fire eradicates pathogens and weeds that may reside in topsoil and vegetation; it loosens soil and prepares it for planting almost immediately -- doing the same with a tractor can cost up to RM250 (£40) a day, a sum beyond most smallholders' means; fire also produces fertiliser after the biomass is reduced to ash -- a fertiliser that is much cheaper than chemical ones. However, officialdom is not that sympathetic to small-scale or subsistence farmers.

Last month, Department of Environment (DOE) director-general Rosnani Ibrahim "advised" farmers not to use fire to get rid of unwanted biomass. These lowland Semais in Perak decided they could not wait for the bureaucrats to look into their plight. Two weeks ago, they cleared a small plot of secondary forest to prepare it for rice cultivation in August. She also said that there is no reason why the farmers should continue to use fires as there are "various modern techniques" for tilling their fields. The national no-burn directive apparently also applies to the handful of orang asli who still practise rotational agriculture. Datuk Saleh Sarif, director-general of the Department of Orang Asli Affairs, agrees with the ban as he is not convinced that fire is necessary for these groups of orang asli. "I don't believe they are subject to any hardship on account of not being allowed to use fire for land-clearing. If they pile the biomass together, it will be a source of nutrients when it rots. "Anyway, how much nutrient can you get from the ashes? In my observation, all farmers will have to use chemical fertilisers at one point or another."

However, Colin Nicholas, co-ordinator for the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns, believes Saleh is not well-acquainted with the orang asli's tried-and-tested techniques and their implications for the environment. "Chemical fertiliser is needed only for land that is cultivated repeatedly like rice fields, but not in rotational agriculture, which has been practised without any problem for hundreds of years. "Anyway, the orang asli practise organic farming, which is in accordance with the general trend of moving away from the use of chemical fertilisers. "Furthermore, the orang asli do not have access to bulldozers and the like that are needed to practise zero-burning agriculture." Nicholas argues that if the orang asli are denied the right to burn, they are in effect being denied the right to plant food crops. Hence, they should perhaps be given some form of compensation. "In the case of the water shortage, you can't tell the factories not to use any water. By the same principle, this flexibility should be extended to the orang asli."

The assistant director-general of the Fire and Rescue Department, Mohammad amdan Wahid, concurs. "The law must not be overly rigid in this matter. These are the people that you can educate, but you must provide them with some alternative if they are not allowed to use fires. If it is not for their survival, I don't think these people will start a fire, unless it is an act of sabotage."

Traditionally, orang asli who practise subsistence farming will clear vegetation in April/May and leave the felled material to dry for three months before setting fire to it. Besides rice, a whole variety of other crops like tapioca, vegetables and sugar cane are also grown on their plots, which are often below 1ha. Three weeks ago, an orang asli in Perak asked this writer: "If we are not allowed to burn, can someone provide us with rice? Maybe one sack per family should be enough to see us through. If that can be done, perhaps we can forego tilling our fields for this season." However, Saleh dismisses the possibility of that happening: "We will not give anything like that. Anyway, their children are already receiving food subsidies when they go to school." When asked whether the special needs of the orang asli have been overlooked in the haste to ensure clear skies, he replies: "There is no question about it, the orang asli must follow the Government's directive, which is intended to prevent the haze. Are you suggesting that they break the law?" He then adds that the orang asli are being helped in "other" ways. "There are a number of agencies which are helping them, like the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and so on. Perhaps they can ask for fertiliser subsidies." Things aren't completely bleak, however. There appears to be a glimmer of hope for both the orang asli and the smallholders: Rosnani says her department is considering the appeals forwarded by those affected by the nationwide no-burn directive. "We recognise that there are some specific situations where the use of fire is needed, and we will announce our decision soon," she says. Further words of comfort come from Deputy Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Abu Bakar Daud, who said a fortnight ago that the RM500,000 fine (currently being gazetted) for open-burning offenders is "not meant for farmers and smallholders, but those doing it for quick profit." That statement will be tested soon. Some lowland Semais in Perak have decided that they cannot afford to wait for the bureaucrats to alleviate their predicament. Two weeks ago, they decided that their hill rice cultivation has to go on, and cleared a small plot of secondary forest near their homes; the debris will be burnt off in August when it's fully dry. "Last month, the officer (from the Department of Orang Asli Affairs) said we cannot do any burning. But then, if we don't, what are we going to eat?" asks one of them.