It's likely to be a hazy year, Asean ministers warn

But are things all that gloomy?
Today Online 9 Apr 08;

KUALA LUMPUR — After being spared from the worst effects of the haze last year, Singapore and its neighbours are bracing themselves for the days when smoke will once again get into their eyes.

Last year, wetter weather conditions caused by the La Nina phenomenon — the abnormal cooling of sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean — as well as Indonesia's anti-pollution efforts had helped to suppress the region's perennial haze problem.

However, the effects of La Nina will wear off by the third quarter of this year, noted the region's environment ministers after their talks in Putrajaya yesterday.

"This could lead to drier periods and the possibility of escalating hotspot activities during the coming dry season," the ministers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Thailand said in a joint statement after a meeting to discuss the haze measures.

Singapore's Minister of Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, told Channel NewsAsia: "If the dry season continues, we are in deep trouble."

Since 1997, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have complained about haze drifting from Indonesia, where annual fires are started as part of seasonal land-clearing.

Indonesia argues it lacks the money and technical expertise to prevent or control the fires.

In their joint statement, the ministers noted that Indonesia had made "significant progress" in implementing anti-haze measures.

For example, the number of illegal fires or hotspots had been reduced by 51 per cent last year — slightly exceeding the 50 per cent target set — in key provinces. Indonesia is confident that the number could be further reduced.

Its Environment Minister, Mr Rachmat Witoelar, said that efforts are under way to fight cross-border smoke by banning traditional slash-and-burn practices by farmers and plantations, and stiffer penalties for open burning.

Indonesia's government agencies and the private sector have also raised their budget for land and forest fire control this year to more than 800 billion rupiah.

"We are consolidating our efforts and working together with our neighbours.

"It is not easy because we have vast tracts of dry and combustible land. We are not trying to delude ourselves that we are going to wipe out all the haze," Mr Witoelar said.

While Indonesia's efforts to combat the problem have not gone unnoticed, it has yet to ratify the Asean Transboundary Haze Agreement.

On March 14, lawmakers refused to endorse a Bill that would have paved the way for Jakarta to ratify the pact, which would, among other things, compel Indonesia to adopt a zero-burning policy.

While concerns that some provinces are not ready to implement zero-burning policies have been cited as a reason for the delay, some observers also attribute it to the country's domestic politics. Indonesia is due to go to the polls next year.

"We have heard promises from their leaders, and we hope that they can keep it, and that politics do not get in the way," said Mr Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

On Indonesia's pledges to step up efforts to fight the haze, Mr Charles Chong, who chairs the Singapore Government Parliamentary Committee on the Environment, said: "Whether the haze returns will determine whether efforts have been successful or whether it's all hot air."

However, one Indonesian academic believes that the responsibility should not rest with his country alone.

"If you look at the plantations that are causing it, the propagators are often foreign investors," Dr Anies Baswedan, Rector of Paramadina University, told Today.

He suggested that foreign companies operating in Indonesia should be held liable by their home countries for any environmental damage in the areas they operate. This could be done by revoking the insurance coverage of companies guilty of such an offence.

"They (neighbouring countries) have to create a scheme that helps prevent haze and not put the blame on Indonesia, though Indonesia should also be held accountable too," he added. — AGENCIES, with additional reporting by Lin Yanqin and Nazry Bahrawi

Southeast Asian nations brace for haze, vow to step up efforts to tackle forest fires
Channel NewsAsia 8 Apr 08;

PUTRAJAYA : Southeast Asian countries are bracing for the return of choking haze as a drier season expected in the third quarter of this year may trigger an escalation of hotspots in Indonesia.

Environment ministers from the region met on Tuesday to discuss how to reduce haze pollution.

Speaking after the meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, environment ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand vowed to step up preventive and mitigation efforts to tackle land and forest fires.

A drier season in the third quarter is expected to set in as early as June this year.

"We were lucky last year because the La Nina effect (brought) a lot more rain, so that helped. We can't expect the same help this year, according to the forecast (of a drier season), which means mitigating efforts will need to step up. If the dry season continues, we are in deep trouble," said Singapore's Minister of Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

The acrid smog in 2005 and 2006 was blamed on Indonesia as farmers and plantations there lit fire to clear land. On top of posing a health hazard, the choking haze caused billions of dollars in economic losses as tourists shunned the region.

In 2005, Malaysia declared a state of emergency as air quality reached dangerous level, forcing schools to close while airports and shipping lanes were disrupted.

Although the number of hotspots in Indonesia was slashed by more than half last year, ministers warned that there is no room for complacency. They hope Jakarta will keep up with its good work in curbing illegal burning.

This year, Indonesia has budgeted 800 billion rupiah (S$120.6 million, US$87 million) on land and forest fire control and promised to do more. But its minister admits there are limitations.

"We are prepared for the worst, hoping for the best. It's not easy because we have vast track of dry and combustible land such as peat land and so on, we are not going to delude ourselves that we are going to wipe out the haze. There'll always be some burning," said Indonesian Environment Minister Rahmat Witoelar.

Other difficulties involve litigation as bigger culprits such as plantation companies were let off after the authorities failed to charge them in court for illegal burning, due to a lack of evidence.

Nevertheless, Jakarta has set lofty targets to reduce the number of hotspots by half next year.

Singapore's environment minister said he hopes Jakarta will ratify the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement soon.

Singapore has allocated one million dollars in capacity building, socialisation workshop and development of fire danger rating system in Indonesia's Jambi province, while Kuala Lumpur will assist in developing an early warning system, peatland management and zero burning techniques.

The ministers next meet on June 26 in Singapore. - CNA /ls

Indonesia confident of curbing fires as haze season looms
Channel NewsAsia 8 Apr 08;

KUALA LUMPUR - Indonesia said Tuesday it was confident of reducing the number of illegal fires or "hotspots" this year, as the region braces for the annual dry-season haze crisis.

Indonesia's environment minister Rachmat Witoelar said hotspots had been reduced by 51 percent in 2007 in key provinces and this pace of improvement should continue.

"We are consolidating our efforts and working together with our neighbours," he said after talks with his counterparts.

"We have significantly reduced the number of hotspots in both Kalimantan and Sumatra since last year, and we hope to maintain this trend in 2008 with cooperation from our neighbours."

Ministers and officials from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand held half-day talks on measures to fight the haze phenomenon, which chokes the region each year, hampering travel and causing health problems.

They said in a statement that the La Nina weather system was expected to ease this year, "leading to drier periods and the possibility of escalating hotspot activities," so urgent action was required.

"We will be prepared for the worst but hope for the best," Witoelar said, while noting that Indonesia's vast tracts of dry and combustible peatland would make fighting forest fires difficult.

"We are not trying to delude ourselves that we are going to wipe out all the haze... but we are focusing on preventing transboundary haze in our national action plan," he said.

Witoelar said stiff penalties of up to 10 billion rupiah (1.1 million dollars) and 10-year jail terms will be meted out to major plantation owners who defy the law against open burning.

Farmers have also been educated and received incentives to clear land using alternatives to traditional slash-and-burn methods.

Indonesia has yet to ratify a regional treaty charted in 2002 on preventing the haze, but officials said it was in the process of doing so.

Indonesia and the Philippines are the only members of the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc who have not ratified the deal, which would compel Indonesia to create a strict zero-burning policy.

The haze hit its worst level in 1997-98, costing the region an estimated nine billion dollars by disrupting air travel, tourism and other business activities as smoke enveloped the region.

The five nations again meet on the issue on June 26 in Singapore.

- AFP /ls