ASEAN vows swift action on choking haze<\/p>\n
Mynardo Macaraig, Agence France-Presse\/Manila<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian environment ministers on Tuesday promised swift
\naction to help each other with the region's recurrent problem of
\nchoking haze from forest fires and with other threats to
\nbiodiversity.<\/p>\n
\"We stand ready to assist each other by mobilizing our
\nresources to mitigate fires in the region during critical
\nperiods,\" the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations (ASEAN) said in a statement after meeting in the
\nPhilippine capital.<\/p>\n
The ministers \"resolved to further intensify regional
\ncooperation\" by stepping up previous measures such as joint
\nemergency response, simulation exercises, inventory of fire-
\nfighting resources and guidelines for \"zero burning and
\ncontrolled burning practices.\"<\/p>\n
They said they had established \"a panel of ASEAN experts on
\nfire and haze assessment and coordination to undertake rapid
\nassessment of the situation on the ground during impending
\ncritical periods.\"<\/p>\n
This panel would help ease \"immediate response and effective
\nmobilization of resources in the region,\" the communique said. It
\ndid not identify the members of the panel.<\/p>\n
Regional cooperation would be further enhanced at ASEAN
\nmeetings on the haze in Indonesia in December, the ministers
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The ministers also said they would call on ASEAN leaders to
\nprovide guidance on the issue during their summit in Malaysia in
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
The haze -- blamed on forest and peat fires and open burning
\non plantations in Indonesia and parts of Malaysia -- again
\nenveloped both countries and the south of Thailand this year.<\/p>\n
All three countries are members of ASEAN along with Brunei,
\nCambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
\nMalaysian deputy environment minister S. Sothinathan said earlier
\nthat pollution remains a regional concern, noting that his
\ngovernment had been forced to declare a state of emergency in
\nAugust.<\/p>\n
He remarked that remedial measures to deal with the haze go
\ninto effect \"only after the fire has started.\"<\/p>\n
\"What we would like to see is (measures) to prevent this from
\nhappening,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Singapore have called for a more coordinated
\nresponse from ASEAN to the annual haze problem, which in 1997-98
\ncost the region some US$9 billion by disrupting air travel,
\ntourism and other businesses.<\/p>\n
Malaysia has been worst hit by the smoke and dust, which in
\nAugust sent air pollution to extremely hazardous levels and
\nforced schools and an airport to close.<\/p>\n
At the summit, the ministers also launched a new autonomous
\nASEAN Center for Biodiversity that is being supported by both the
\nASEAN and the European Union.<\/p>\n
The center, based in La Union town just south of Manila, will
\nreceive six million euros (US$7.2 million) in funding from the
\nEuropean Union over the next three years with 1.3 million euros
\nin counterpart funding from ASEAN, said officials of the ASEAN
\nsecretariat.<\/p>\n
It is hoped that the center will eventually become an
\nindependent research center on the lines of the International
\nRice Research Institute, the secretariat said.<\/p>",
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