Fires Cause Possible Haze Blanket:Indonesia

Every year it happens when the winds blow northwards. Smoke from seasonal fires in Sumatra and other islands in the archipelago cause a smoke haze to cover the cities in South-East Asia and mainly Singapore.

And every year the relative governments of the countries affected complain to the Indonesian government, and every year they promise to fix the problem. The worst forest fires occurred in 1997 destroying almost 10 million hectares of forests in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi and Papua. The haze blanketed much of Southeast Asia affecting the health and economy of some 70 million people in six countries.

Notorious as a regional haze exporter, Indonesia is once again struggling to contain seasonal forest fires so as not to choke its nearest neighbours.

Satellite images showed some 600 fires across Indonesia mainly on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands and showed more than 300 so-called hotspots in Riau province, more than 100 in North Sumatra, 63 in Jambi, 48 in West Kalimantan and 38 in South Sumatra.

Forestry Ministry statistics indicate that of the approximately 600 hotspots. Some 58 percent are located inside forests and the other 42 percent outside. 34 fires were detected in protected and conservation forests and about 400 in logging concessions and industrial timber estates.

A senior official at the State Ministry for the Environment Purwasto Saroprayogi said most of the fires occur in peatlands or wetlands containing large amounts of partially decomposed plant matter. That makes them difficult to extinguish.

This year's forest fires are expected to be less intense than last year's because forecasts call for a shorter dry season with more precipitation. According to the State Ministry for the Environment fire has destroyed more than 13,000 hectares of forests so far this season.

Last year the government brought 15 companies to trial for allegedly starting forest fires. None of the cases have been settled according to the State Ministry for the Environment’s 2005 State of Environment report.

World Wide Fund for Nature forestry coordinator Fitrian Ardiansyah urged the government to take more steps to prevent the annual outbreak of fires such as increasing monitoring.