Man-Made Fires in Indonesia Once Again Clouding Neighboring Skies
8/28/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Man-Made Fires in Indonesia Once Again Clouding Neighboring
Skies
Source: The New York Times internet edition
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 28, 1999
Byline: Seth Mydans
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Hundreds of man-made fires are burning again in
remote areas of Indonesia, blackening vast areas of rain forest and
sending pungent smoke across several nations.
The fires, mostly set by owners of large plantations to clear land on
Borneo and Sumatra, reached a peak two years ago, when thick smog
dimmed the sun in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the
Philippines, as well as Indonesia.
Now some environmental groups are warning that this could be another
disaster year, and officials from 10 countries in the region met in
Singapore Wednesday to press Indonesia to take action.
"Certainly we hope that it will not be worse than it was two years
ago," said Dedi Jefri, an official of Indonesia's leading private
environmental group, Walhi. "But actually if the government does not
take preventive action, it could be at least as bad this year."
In a report this month, Walhi said at least 441 fires were burning as
the dry season got under way.
Though the smog is far thinner than at its peak two years ago, it has
already caused some airlines to divert flights and is blamed for a
collision of a barge and a tanker off Sumatra two weeks ago that cost
10 lives.
But there may be little anyone can do about it.
Under international pressure, Indonesia passed laws in 1997
forbidding the use of fire to clear land during the dry season, from
July through October.
Officials said 176 companies were suspected of using the method. But
so far, not one has been successfully prosecuted.
With the government weak and distracted by politics and continuing
outbreaks of violence, a former official said, there was little hope
of effective enforcement.
The companies involved are powerful and well connected, and the
revenue from the plantations is desperately needed as Indonesia's
economy continues to founder, said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
A British environmental group, Down to Earth, said in a recent
report, "The forest fires are a symptom of the crisis in Indonesian
politics, economics and forestry policy."
Environmental groups estimated that the fires in 1997 destroyed 25
million acres of forest land and caused losses to Indonesia of nearly
$9 billion.
In Singapore this week, Emmanuel Nabet, managing director of Spot
Asia, an international supplier of geographic information, said
nearby countries were losing patience.
"I think we are going to see a very interesting meeting because
Indonesia's neighbors seem to be fed up with the situation," he said
in a report by The Associated Press.
The smog has been most troublesome to Malaysia, where in 1997 it
turned noon into dusk and forced residents of the capital, Kuala
Lumpur, to wear surgical masks.
For fear of scaring off tourists, the response in Malaysia this year
has been to declare that there is no smog. On Aug. 5 the government
there announced it would no longer publish regular updates of its
pollution index. Malaysian officials blamed the smog for a 13 percent
drop in tourists in 1997, to 6.2 million.
"There is nothing alarming," said Environment Minister Law Hieng
Ding. "Why do you all trust CNN? People can see for themselves." CNN
and foreign newspapers and magazines have shown pictures of Kuala
Lumpur's skyline blurred by smog.