U.S. Official Blames Smog on Indonesia Agriculture Policy
11/1/97
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Headline: U.S. Official Blames Smog on Indonesia Agriculture Policy
Source: Reuters
Date: 11/1/97
Author: Nick Edwards
Copyright: Reuters Limited 1997
SINGAPORE - Indonesia must end slash and burn land clearing if it is to
stop smothering millions of people every year with smog, a senior U.S.
government official said on Wednesday.
Indonesian forest fires, set mainly to clear land for agriculture, have
sent a choking pall over much of Southeast Asia since August.
At least 11 people are reported to have died as a direct result of the
smog
and many more have been made ill. Some parts of the region have not seen
the sun for weeks.
On Tuesday, Singapore and Malaysia both said the air was unhealthy. On
Wednesday morning in Singapore, the smog had thinned a little but the air
was still high in the moderate range.
"These fires aren't going to go away until fundamental changes are made in
agricultural practice," said Timothy Wirth, U.S. Under Secretary of State
for Global Affairs.
Speaking in a satellite link up with reporters from Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines and Singapore -- the nations most affected by the smog --
Wirth said bad environmental practices were to blame for the choking cloud
euphemistically dubbed "haze" in the region.
"There are some people who don't want to admit that, but that's the basic
root of the problem," Wirth said.
Nine U.S. government agencies have committed millions of dollars worth of
technical assistance for fire fighting, air quality monitoring and weather
forecasting in Indonesia and Malaysia, the two countries hardest hit by
the
smog's effects.
Wirth said the United States would be "continuing to help as much as we
can
for some time".
But he offered no suggestions as to how Indonesia should bring about the
fundamental shift in agricultural practices he called for.
"Ultimately it has to be your government and your institutions that
respond," Wirth said.
Wirth said the effects of environmental events like the stronger than
normal El Nino weather phenomenon were being exacerbated by industrial
activities that were causing global warming.
He said U.S. President Bill Clinton's plan to fight global warming
announced late last month, criticised in developed and developing nations
alike, was a realistic approach to solving the problem.
"The U.S. has a proposal which we believe is a feasible, do-able and
realistic proposal. Realism is the word of the day," Wirth said.
He said Washington was not seeking to impose its will on other nations,
but
to lead by example as the world's biggest economy.
"This is not a set of problems where the U.S. is going to outline the
solutions. We will help where we can," Wirth said.