Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 25 Aug 09;
The government has asked neighboring countries not to bring unsettled haze problems to international forums as happened in 2006 when smog from forest fires in Sumatra spread to Singapore and Malaysia.
Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said Tuesday the haze problems should be resolved among ASEAN member countries.
“We have done our best to tackle the forest fires. If there are still problems, we ask for their understanding since it is not easy [to stop the blaze],” Rachmat told reporters.
He said he had extended the request during the meeting of ministerial steering committee of five neighboring countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam last week.
An official from Singapore complained about the haze problems from Indonesia in a session at the United Nations in 2006.
The 2006 forest fires due to El Nino weather anomaly caused 145,000 hotspots in Indonesia, the second worst since 1997.
The thick haze also affected million of people in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, forcing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to apologize to neighboring countries over the export of haze.
Fears have been rife that the 2006 incident could be repeated this year due to the expected
return of El Nino.
Rachmat said water bombing and helicopters had been involved in the fight against forest fires.
“It’s difficult to stop the fires as many of them take place in peat land areas.”
Agreement to Keep Gripes About Haze in Family
Fidelis E. Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 26 Aug 09;
The five Southeast Asian countries unhappily sharing the problem of heavy haze from forest and peatland fires have agreed to keep their comments on the problem among themselves and not raise them at wider international forums, the Indonesian environment minister said.
Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said his counterparts from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei had agreed to this at his suggestion at a meeting in Singapore last week.
Rachmat said he had expressed a need for restraint in comments about handling forest and peatland fires because a wider audience could lead to a loss of international credibility.
“Indonesia had a very bad experience with the issue in 2006 when Singapore accused us at the United Nations of not doing anything about the fires, which of course had the consequence of us losing credibility in international eyes,” he said.
“That is why I was really firm on the issue last week.”
The meeting was the eighth held by the five members of the Subregional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The committee serves as a forum for discussing shared problems associated with the annual forest and peatland fires which occur in all of the five countries except Singapore.
The worst of the fires occur in the Indonesian and Malaysian parts of Borneo and on Sumatra.
Rachmat said last week’s meeting had been positive, with the five nations repeating their commitment to staying focused on extinguishing the fires and preventing new outbreaks.
“The other countries now understand that we [in Indonesia] have tried our best, but these fires are not easy to put out because they happen in peatland areas which have unique characteristics and are highly flammable,” he said.
The committee’s members agreed the fires were becoming a regional problem not identified with any particular countries.
Rachmat said Indonesia was using the committee as a forum to seek consensus, not financial assistance from other countries.
Rachmat denied media reports last week that he had been re l uctant to accept help from other countries.
“If other countries want to help Indonesia with the fires, then I don’t think we’re the ones who should be issuing statements. We should leave it to the other countries to comment,” he said.
He said the help Indonesia might receive was expected to be in the form equipment such as helicopters or airplanes capable of dropping water bombs, instead of money.
“Basically, our main problem with the peatland fires is that we don’t have any effective means to extinguish them,” he said.
“So I asked for their understanding that it’s not easy for us. We have tried our best but have not successfully managed to contain all the fires.”
Indonesia wants to keep haze issue a domestic matter
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 26 Aug 09;
The Indonesian government on Tuesday warned neighboring countries to settle the issue of haze through regional negotiation rather than by raising it at international forums.
In 2006, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was forced to sign a regional apology after neighboring countries protested internationally about the export of Indonesian haze.
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said the haze problems should be resolved in internal ASEAN member country meetings.
"We have done our best to tackle forest fires. If problems still exist, we ask for understanding as it is not easy to control the haze," Rachmat told reporters Tuesday.
He said the warning had been addressed during the meeting of a ministerial steering committee made up of five countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam last week.
An official from Singapore complained about the haze problems exported from Indonesia in a session at the United Nations in 2006.
There were 145,000 fires hotspots in 2006 when El Nino hit the country and conditions were as bad as the 1997 forest fires.
At the time, thick haze blanketed Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and parts of Thailand, forcing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to apologize to neighboring countries.
There are fears that a similar incident could occur this year due to the expected return of El Nino.
Rachmat said that following the complaints in 2006, several foreign countries had canceled their financial aid directed at helping protect Indonesian forests.
Rachmat said the government had taken efforts to stop forests fires as well as preventing them by deploying all necessary equipment, including helicopters and water-bombings. Forestry Minister M.S Kaban said earlier the government would only take firm action to control forest haze if it disturbed flights and sparked protests in Malaysia and Singapore.
Environmental activists have criticized the government for its slow action in tackling forest fires across the country. "The forest fires also occur because the government has failed to take preventive actions through policies and law enforcement," said Berry Furgon from the Indonesian Forum for Environment.
