RI seeks Malaysia's help to battle forest fires
RI seeks Malaysia's help to battle forest fires
Agence France-Presse
Kuala Lumpur
Jakarta has renewed a call for Malaysia to stem the smuggling of
illegal logs into the country as a spate of forest fires has
caused a recurrence of smog in the region, officials and reports
said on Sunday.
Indonesian Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim told the Sunday
Star that illegal logging was the main cause of fresh fires and
said officers in his country were ill-equipped to fight the
fires, especially in remote areas.
"Illegal logging, which results in the opening of forests,
leaves the land more susceptible to fires," he said.
"If the Malaysian government can help us block the flow of
illegal logs from Indonesia into Malaysia, it will help us
tremendously in reducing illegal logging and forest fires in the
country."
But Malaysia said the allegations were baseless and it was
Jakarta's duty to put out the fires, which it blamed for a return
of the haze which has blanketed parts of the country for a week
now after a brief respite last month.
"The claim that illegal logs are coming into Malaysia and are
the cause of the current fires is unsubstantiated. The forest
fires in Indonesia have nothing to do with Malaysia," said
natural resources and environment deputy minister S. Sothinathan.
Malaysia's environment department said early Sunday that air
quality in Sri Aman town in Sarawak state has turned unhealthy
while 38 out of 51 stations nationwide showed moderate quality.
Visibility in the capital Kuala Lumpur was about five
kilometers but several northern towns and large areas in eastern
Sarawak state on Borneo island reported even poorer visibility, a
meteorological department official said.
The situation may improve with rain expected in the next few
days, and the number of hotspots falling to 28 in Indonesia's
Sumatra province and 25 in Kalimantan late Saturday, she told
AFP.
Malaysia refers to air quality as "good, moderate, unhealthy
or hazardous" after banning the release of air pollution figures
since 1997 for fear it might drive away tourists and hurt the
economy.
The tourism sector is Malaysia's second largest foreign
exchange earner after manufacturing.
In 1997 and 1998, haze caused by Indonesian forest fires
enveloped parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia for months,
causing an estimated US$9.3 billion in economic losses to the
region due to serious health problems, traffic hazards and flight
disruptions.