Govt needs to act on fires

Few of us are astonished exactly at the return of the forest fire-induced pollution disaster now visiting Pontianak and most of West Kalimantan.

What is astonishing, however, is the absolutely inconsistent attitude of the government. Here is a national emergency, if ever there was one, and yet the powers-that-be sit in Nero-like complacency fiddling while major assets burn.

The President should go on national TV and tell it how it is, Indonesia's future is being destroyed.

Meanwhile, the likes of Tommy Soeharto and Bob Hasan, two men whose companies have played a huge role in forest destruction, should be transferred to prison in Pontianak. See how they like that.

DAVID JARDINE, Jakarta