PM Lee hopes Indonesia will continue to minimise illegal land-clearing

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 5 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has no doubt there would be a spirit of cooperation in ASEAN in dealing with the haze issue, but he said it will take a long time to solve it with the best will in the world.

Replying to a question during the DBS Asian Insights Conference in Singapore on Friday, he explained that it was not easy for the Indonesian government to do it because what was involved was thousands of square kilometres of land being cleared illegally.

Some were by companies who could be caught and punished while some were being cleared by farmers, who were harder to catch.

Mr Lee said Indonesia is also a country where it is not so easy for an instruction from the central government to reach every corner of the land.

So the prime minister felt it is a problem which is going to continue though he has no doubt that if there are active efforts made, the haze can lessen.

Mr Lee explained: "As you can see from three weeks ago when we had a very serious haze to now, today the sky is mostly clear. Things can be done, and we do hope that the Indonesian authorities will make the effort and continue to minimise the burning and the illegal clearing of land."

- CNA/xq


It will take some time to solve haze issue: PM Lee
Ng Jing Yng Today Online 6 Jul 13;

SINGAPORE — Members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) will cooperate to tackle the haze issue but it will take some time for the matter to be resolved, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

Responding to questions from the audience at the inaugural DBS Asia Leadership Dialogue, he said: “I have no doubt that there will be a spirit of cooperation. But I think solving the haze issue will take a very long time.”

Two weeks ago, thick smog reaching hazardous levels blanketed Singapore and Malaysia due to slash-and-burn land clearing in Indonesia.

ASEAN Foreign Ministers convened last weekend to discuss the haze issue, but some had also questioned the effectiveness of the group in managing regional affairs.

While he noted that Indonesia would like the problem to be resolved — as “it would save (the authorities) a lot of international awkwardness”, Mr Lee pointed out that Indonesia is a huge country, with thousands of square kilometres of land being cleared illegally.

The authorities may be able to take guilty companies to task but it is not always easy to nab farmers committing these offences, he said.

Added Mr Lee: “It is a country where it is not easy for instructions from the centre to percolate down and reach every corner of the land, so I think that it is a problem which is going to continue.”

Nevertheless, he noted that the situation has improved and the skies have been mostly clear.

“So things can be done, (and) we do hope that the Indonesian authorities will make the effort and continue to minimise the burning and illegal clearing of land,” Mr Lee said.

NG JING YNG