Haze fighters attract interest

Haze fighters attract interest

SINGAPORE (AP): A private organization raising money to fight worsening haze in the region has attracted wide interest in Singapore, The Sunday Times reported.

Founded recently by residents of the city-state frustrated over the prospects of haze shrouding the region again this year, the organization known as Haze Busters aims to raise US$50 million to combat fires and educate those causing the haze.

"We were inundated with 70 to 80 offers of help from individuals pledging money to companies and multinationals expressing interest, offering assistance or equipment" in the last week, the newspaper quoted Haze Busters' organizer Jeremy Cama as saying.

Fires set by plantation owners and small farmers to clear their land have swept across wide swathes of Kalimantan and Sumatra since last year and the ensuing haze has wreaked havoc on the region's environment.