ASEAN agreements on haze lack bite

ASEAN agreements on haze lack bite

Ati Nurbaiti and Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post,
Sanur, Bali

Civil society groups in the Southeast Asian region are urged
to increase pressure on governments in the region to do more to
mitigate the impacts of the haze currently blanketing some parts
of the region.

The secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Rodolfo C. Severino, said here on Friday that
ASEAN governments had agreements and action plans on their hands
to tackle haze problems, but their implementation needed the
support of civil society groups.

Severino was referring to the agreement reached by ASEAN
ministers following the dramatic haze from land and forest fires
in l997-l998, and the comprehensive program to monitor fires and
haze, to fight fires and to minimize their effects.

Speaking in his opening address at the second ASEAN People's
Assembly (APA), Severino said the haze problem was among the
number of pressing issues and concerns faced by people in ASEAN
countries that should be addressed jointly and comprehensively.

The ongoing haze problems, Severino added, had raised fears of
repetition of the damage by the forest fires of l997-l998 which
caused billions of dollars in economic damage, and much suffering
for hundreds of thousands of people in terms of health and
children's education.

He said ASEAN could not work alone on such a diverse issue and
needed the help of people's organizations.

Speaking at the same forum, a member of Thailand's Parliament,
Sukhumbhand Paribatra, agreed that civil society groups must
inspire ASEAN but he said this would be not easy given "ASEAN
officialdom."

In the first years of its establishment, ASEAN focused more on
the issue of security and stability, he said.

"But now, ASEAN should give priority to human agenda given
that it is now facing non-traditional security problems such as
human rights abuse, mass migration, transnational crimes,
environmental problems and transmission of diseases," he said.

One of the founders of the ASEAN People's Assembly (APA)
Carolina Hernandez described the long process of "an impossible
dream" to bring together ASEAN and peoples' organizations in the
region.

Hernandez said that the aim was to bring a sense of belonging
to ASEAN.

The brochures of APA cite the need to make ASEAN more known
and accountable to the people, and to foster a sense of community
across borders.

A participant from Malaysia said that it was sad that after
thirty-five years, ASEAN remained very much closed to involvement
from people's organizations.

This second APA 2002 meeting hopes to create a number of
regional networks (APA networks) focusing on a number of issues,
including terrorism, human rights, health, gender, NGO-
governance, transnational crimes and information technology.

The second APA is jointly organized by the Jakarta-based
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of
Indonesia and the ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International
Studies (ASEAN ISIS) in Sanur resort complex in Bali.

Some 300 participants are attending the three-day meeting,
from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1. Among the attendees are former
foreign minister Ali Alatas and members of parliaments from ASEAN
countries, various NGOs and scholars.

The first APA meeting was held in Batam in Riau in 2000.