Lastly, forest fires in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan are damaging the country's natural beauty. Reportedly, in Riau (Sumatra) there are currently 1,200 hotspots. With the dry season beginning in April, which will burden forest fire control, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has been ordered by Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to assist the provinces. It is estimated that around 95 percent of these fires are caused by human action, either individual or corporate.

These natural disasters were partly responsible for Indonesia's relatively high inflation rate in January 2014 at 1.07 percent (month-to-month), implying that on a year-on-year basis inflation remains high at 8.22 percent. 

Data from BNPB show that economic damages brought on by the aforementioned natural disasters total IDR 10 trillion (USD $855 million) in the first two months of the year. The agency calculated this figure by analyzing the impact of these disasters on the following categories: housing, infrastructure, productive economy, social cultural and cross-sectoral.

Bahas