Indonesia, neighbors to discuss forest fire problem
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution said on Wednesday Indonesia would soon hold a bilateral meeting with Malaysia and Brunei to discuss the forest fire problem.
Muslimin said the meeting would be held ahead of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) environment ministers' meeting scheduled to be held in Singapore later this month.
He said he hoped the meeting would ease concerns over a possible repeat of thick smoke which blanketed the region because of the 1997 forest fires.
"The government will explain its actions to combat the fires and request input from the two countries for further action," he said.
Muslimin said his office had detected that hot spots had spread to all 12 provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Wednesday, from five provinces in the previous week.
"As of this week, forest fires have ravaged over 3,601 hectares of forest and plantation areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan."
He blamed the forest and land fires on plantation owners and small farmers starting fires to clear land.
"Most of the hot spots were detected in plantation areas, and areas located near human settlements indicated that the fires were started by plantation firms and nomadic farmers."
Haze from the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan covered most of the region in 1997, causing serious health and transport hazards, and recurred in 1998, but to a lesser extent.
The government is under mounting pressure for its perceived attitude of indifference to combating the fires.
AFP reported on Wednesday that the oil-rich kingdom of Brunei had threatened to bring a suit against Indonesia to the International Court of Justice if prompt action was not taken to address the problem.
The official weather service in Bandar Seri Begawan said haze from Malaysian and Indonesian forest fires had wafted across the border, blanketing skies over Brunei and the ongoing Southeast Asian Games.
ASEAN environment ministers are scheduled to meet in Singapore later this month to discuss progress on an action plan to combat mostly Indonesian forest fires which have caused haze to reappear in the region.
The ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last met in July in Kuala Lumpur, where Indonesia announced it would launch an immediate action plan to prevent fires during the dry season. The ministers also met in Bandar Seri Begawan in April.
President B.J. Habibie on Monday called for action to halt Indonesia's forest fires.
But environment activists dismissed his call as too late.
Meanwhile, a local shipping company and police blamed the thick haze from forest and brush fires in Sumatra on a collision between an oil tanker and barge on Tuesday that left 10 dead.
Thick haze has reportedly blanketed the Riau and Jambi provinces in Sumatra and West and Central Kalimantan.
The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) has warned that this year's forest fires could be worse than those of 1997 due to the longer than expected and hotter dry season.
Nevertheless, Muslimin said his office was optimistic the current forest fires and haze resulting from the fires would not be as devastating as the 1997 fires.
He added that the ministry would immediately revoke licenses to forest concessionaires and plantation companies found responsible for the fires. (gis)