KL calls for global help to tackle forest fires

KL calls for global help to tackle forest fires

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's leaders yesterday called for
global help to tackle forest fires the pollution from which, they
said, is affecting the health and well-being of people in most
parts of Southeast Asia.

Thick smoke and haze caused by raging forest fires in
Indonesia have blanketed Malaysia and Singapore since the middle
of last month, spreading more recently to Brunei and drifting
towards Thailand, according to meteorological experts here.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said developed nations with
appropriate fire-fighting equipment should come to the region's
rescue if they considered tropical rainforests the heritage of
mankind.

"They should not sit back and watch the heritage being
destroyed and in the process worsening global warming," Mahathir
was quoted by Bernama news agency as telling Malaysian
journalists in Ashgabat at the end of his visit to Turkmenistan.

Mahathir's call came shortly after his deputy Anwar Ibrahim
pleaded at the 49th United Nations General Assembly in New York
for global aid to help put out the forest fires in Southeast
Asia.

"Hundreds of thousands of hectares of virgin forests are
burning and valuable species are being lost," Anwar said in his
address at the assembly as reported by Bernama.

Mahathir also said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), grouping Malaysia, with Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei,
Thailand and the Philippines, should pool resources to fight the
frequent outbreak of forest fires in Indonesia.

Fighting such fires is costly and ASEAN members could ill-
afford to do it individually, Mahathir said, adding that he had
discussed the problem with Indonesia's President Soeharto when
they met in Jakarta recently.

"But collectively we may be able to have some capacity,"
Mahathir said, echoing Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok's recent
suggestion for joint efforts to tackle the haze.

Mahathir said he was not sure whether the forest fires in
Indonesia had directly caused the severe air pollution in the
region, but he was certain they contributed to it. "They should
not go unchecked," he said.

A Malaysia-Singapore joint environment panel on Wednesday
called for an urgent ASEAN plan to help Indonesia combat the
fires.