ASEAN environment ministers meet on haze issues
Copyright 2000 Kyodo News Service
October 6, 2000
Environment ministers from the Southeast Asia region began a two-day meeting Friday to discuss the issue of haze, a perennial problem when the weather becomes dry and forests burst into flame.
Ministers from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in the capital of Malaysia's Sabah state in Borneo to review regional cooperation on cross-border haze pollution.
At the height of the problem in 1997, ASEAN adopted the Regional Haze Action Plan which contained measures to mitigate the haze from land and forest fires in the Indonesian provinces of Sumatra and Kalimanatan.
Last year, ASEAN established a working group to monitor the operations of subregional firefighting arrangements for Sumatra and Borneo. ASEAN has also adopted a zero-burning policy.
Despite these efforts, in July forest fire were detected in the two provinces which sent thick smog over to Malaysia and Singapore.
In 1997 and 1998, the smog blanketed Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and even parts of Thailand and the Philippines, and the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) estimated it has cost more than $9 billion in treatment costs, lost tourist revenue and disruption to air and sea transport.
Apart from haze issues, the ministers will discuss the coastal marine environment, nature conservation and biodiversity.
They are expected to issue a joint statement as well as a declaration -- 'The Kota Kinabalu Resolution on the Environment' -- at the end of the meeting Saturday.