Ministers to meet over haze

Ministers to meet over haze

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Southeast Asian environment ministers
gather in Singapore on Thursday to discuss the return of regional
haze from forest fires in Indonesia, the Singapore government
said on Saturday.

The eighth meeting of ministers from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was previously scheduled for
October, but was moved forward by two months after smoke began to
shroud parts of Indonesia and Malaysia and briefly Singapore.

Widespread smog from Indonesian forest fires choked the region
in 1997, costing billions of dollars in agricultural damage, lost
tourism and health costs.

Environmentalists have noted the continued illegal burning of
forests in Indonesia, where torching of scrubland is commonly
used to prepare land for agriculture.

The recent fires have spotted remote parts of the islands of
Sumatra and Borneo, and have been exacerbated by the ongoing dry
season.