Haze from forest fires covers skies over Brunei

Haze from forest fires covers skies over Brunei

JAKARTA (JP): Haze from Indonesian and Malaysian forest fires
had wafted across the borders to blanket the skies over Brunei,
Brunei's weather service said on Tuesday.

The civil aviation department's meteorological service said in
a statement that haze was reported over the country over the last
two weeks and would likely continue for an uncertain period.

"We are of the view that the prevailing slight haze will
likely remain for the duration of the SEA Games and temporarily
lift if there are heavy shower activities," the meteorological
service told AFP.

It said computer-simulated weather projections indicated there
was "little chance of severe smoke haze affecting the nation for
the remainder of the current haze period".

The oil-rich kingdom of Brunei last month threatened to bring
a suit against Indonesia if prompt action was not taken to stamp
out the fires, largely blamed on the practice of clearing land
for agriculture use by burning shrubs.

Meanwhile, according to the United States' National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s satellite data, the
number of hot spots caused by forest and land-clearing fires in
Indonesia declined on Saturday, but increased slightly in
Malaysia.

The satellite data showed that as of Aug. 7, 23 hot spots
existed in Aceh, Bengkulu, Jambi and South Sumatra, and 62 in the
Malaysian Peninsula.

On the same day, 21 hot spots were observed in Kalimantan, and
only four in Malaysia (Sabah). The data also showed that most of
the hot spots in Indonesia were in plantations and farmland.

In anticipation of the fog, environment ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have decided to
bring forward their annual meeting in Singapore by two months,
Singapore's Ministry of Environment spokesman said on Tuesday.

"The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Haze (AMMH) will be held
sometime at the end of the month," a Ministry of Environment
spokesman told Reuters, adding that the actual date was being
discussed.

Satellite images recently suggested the situation was similar
to two years ago when Indonesian fires were not being put out.
Experts now expected the problem to remain for two to three
months.

Singapore's Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) touched 100 on
July 30, a point away from levels considered "unhealthy".

Singapore environment minister Lee Yock Suan has told a local
TV station that greater attention by authorities to the problem
would lead to improvements and prevent fires from burning
uncontrollably.

"The Indonesian authorities have also given their pledge to
disallow open burning to clear land. Unfortunately, at the ground
level, the implementation has not been up to expectations," he
said.

AFP also reported that a shipping company and police blamed on
Tuesday thick haze from forest and shrub fires in Sumatra for a
collision between an oil tanker and barge on Monday which left 12
dead.

"Because of the smoke from the fires, the Siak river where the
accident took place was covered with haze," said a staff member
of the shipping company PT Surya Dumai.

The owner of the Stephanie XVIII tanker, which collided on
Monday with a barge around Perawang, some 80 km off of Pekanbaru,
said the poor visibility made the vessel sail too close to the
banks and hit a barge carrying wood, and then a tugboat.

In Jakarta, Sutino Wibowo, the spokesman of the Ministry of
Forestry and Plantations, disclosed the government would charge
two plantation companies in Riau and was still investigating five
others for alleged illegal land-clearing activities in Jambi.

He said the government had issued a first-level alert in Riau,
Jambi and West Kalimantan.

"It means all concerned parties are obliged to contain the
fires," Sutino said on Tuesday. (prb)