Rains should not dampen SE Asia smog war: Experts<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Southeast Asian environment ministers
\nshould not let the torrential rains sweeping the region dampen
\ntheir efforts to tackle the smog caused by forest fires, experts
\nsaid yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the attention doesn't die away because the fires of
\n1997 and 1998 have gone out. This should be seen as a long-term,
\nchronic problem,\" said Timothy Jessup, senior policy advisor of
\nthe World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Experts said big fires similar to those of last year and early
\n1998, put out by heavy rains, could strike again.<\/p>\n
Already, satellite surveillance is showing hot spots -- local
\nfires -- on Sumatra, the huge Indonesian island which was the
\nsource of much of the choking smoke that covered a swathe of
\nSoutheast Asia late last year.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains have subdued, for the most part, the raging forest
\nfires in Indonesian Borneo. But in the last few days, new hot
\nspots and haze have been seen in satellite pictures from central
\nSumatra. The haze has drifted over Singapore and more is
\nexpected.<\/p>\n
The center of Sumatra island has been getting below normal
\nlevels of rainfall, Woon Shih Lai, director of the Singapore
\nMeteorological Service, was quoted as saying in yesterday's issue
\nof The Straits Times.<\/p>\n
He said the hot spot pattern was similar to last year, but
\nwithout the extra drying effect of the El Nio weather pattern,
\nthere was hope that the fires would go out more quickly.<\/p>\n
The region's environment ministers have met several times on
\nhow to prevent a recurrence of fires that caused damage worth
\nbillions of dollars -- along with widespread health problems.<\/p>\n
They are due to meet again in Singapore today, early in the
\ndry season when the danger of fires is greatest with farmers and
\nplantation companies torching land for new crops.<\/p>\n
\"Watch out from late July,\" said Lim Tian Kuay of the
\nMeteorological Service of Singapore. \"Currently it is localized,
\ncontrolled,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The fires and smog of 1997, worsened by drought, caused $4.4
\nbillion in damage and wiped out five million hectares of forest,
\nagricultural land and bush -- equivalent in size to Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
Early this year, fires destroyed 500,000 hectares of bush and
\nforest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia's side of Borneo.<\/p>\n
Satellite surveillance is one of the steps the Association of
\nSouth East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has taken in its fight against
\nthe fires, but experts said follow-up action has been slow.<\/p>\n
\"In 1997, by the time it was generally acknowledged that this
\nwas a problem... I think the experts agree it was too late,\"
\nWWF's Jessup said.<\/p>\n
\"And then in '98, you would think that people would have
\nlearned and be ready, but in 1998 there were a lot of fires in
\nKalimantan.\" The comforting news was that the \"early detection
\nwas possible\", he added.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is ready to
\noffer quick assistance should new fires break out in Indonesia,
\ngiven the country's appalling financial crisis, said Vladimir
\nSakharov, the head of UNEP's humanitarian and environment unit.<\/p>\n
Sakharov said donor countries and the UN were urging Indonesia
\nto change its policies on fires and find different methods of
\nclearing land for agriculture. But so far he had not seen a
\nsignificant change, making it difficult to raise fresh funds.<\/p>",
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