Indonesia gets serious about fighting the SE Asian haze
The annual haze that originates in Indonesia, and covers much of the region, causing respiratory problems, damage to transport sytems and loss of tourist revenue, has inspired SE Asian leaders to hold an emergency meeting in Pekanbaru, Sumatra. Clearly frustrated the continuing situation, Malaysia has openly criticized Indonesia recently. Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Indonesia hosts emergency meeting to find solutions to yearly haze
PEKANBARU, Riau (AP): Indonesia was hosting an emergency meeting Friday on how to fight annual brush fires that send thick smoke over much of the country as well as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, disrupting air traffic and triggering health warnings.
Facing criticism for its repeated failure to prevent the blazes, Jakarta said Thursday it would sign a regional treaty to boost cooperation in tackling the problem, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier this week apologized for the smoke.
Environment ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei were to meet Friday in Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island, one of the areas worst hit by the annual haze that has plagued the region since the 1990s.
“We are truly ashamed by this haze, but are unable to fight it alone,” Chairul Zainal, head of hard-hit Riau province’s environmental impact agency, told The Associated Press.
“It is really disturbing the health of the people and hitting the economy.”
Residents of Pekanbaru said the air had improved because of recent rainfall, but many were skeptical the government would be able to solve the problem.
Zaiaibi — a mother of two children — complained that authorities had failed to act earlier. She said her children “are suffering respiratory problems and have had bloodshot eyes for weeks.”
The fires on Sumatra island and Indonesia’s portion of Kalimantan (Borneo) island are mostly set by farmers or companies as a cheap way to clear land for plantations. The peaty soil often smolders for weeks or months.
Teams of firefighters are trying to extinguish the blazes, and police have arrested scores of landowners in recent weeks.
However, officials have said that seasonal rains — forecast to fall in the next few weeks — are the only way to snuff all the fires out.
The land-clearing fires resulted in Southeast Asia’s worst haze in 1997-98, when smoke from Sumatra blanketed much of the region and was blamed for losses of nearly US$9 billion in tourism, health costs and business.