RI-S'pore sign deal on air, tourism

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Singapore yesterday agreed to improve cooperation in air transportation, the tourist industry, the combating of forest fires and international fora.

"President Soeharto and Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong also had a common perception of various issues that will be discussed at the coming APEC Leadership Economic Meeting in Bogor, West Java, in November," Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told reporters after a meeting of the two heads of government in Yogyakarta yesterday.

Prior to the meeting, Soeharto and Goh witnessed the signing of agreements on air transportation and tourist sector cooperation by their cabinet members.

Under the air agreement signed by Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto and his Singapore counterpart Mah Bow Tan, five Indonesian airlines -- Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara, Sempati Air, Bouraq Airlines and Mandala Airlines -- are allowed to fly to Singapore from any place in Indonesia and to proceed on flights to any destinations in the world.

Yesterday's agreement amended the previous one which allowed only three Indonesian airlines to serve Singapore.

In return, two Singaporean airlines, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir, are allowed to serve three more Indonesian cities -- Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Solo in Central Java and Mataram in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The two Singaporean airlines currently serve 10 Indonesian cities -- Denpasar, Medan, Surabaya, Manado, Padang, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Ambon, Biak and Jakarta.

The Singapore airlines are also allowed to proceed on their flights from Indonesia to other destinations in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and North America.

Government figures indicate that in the first semester of this year the number of passengers traveling between Singapore and Indonesia reached 1.21 million people, while the amount of freight reached 39,300 tons.

Under the agreement on cooperation in the tourist sector signed by Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the two countries will launch joint promotion and marketing programs as well as developing a series of tourist projects.

Fire

The two countries also agreed to cooperate in easing the effects of forest fires which have darkened skies in the region.

Moerdiono said that the agreement was reached during the talk between the two leaders.

Thick haze, believed to have resulted from forest fires in Indonesia, has darkened the sky over parts of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Malaysian officials issued a public alert in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday, saying the pollution had reached a very unhealthy level. Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding said the government would order cars off roads, close schools and declare a public holiday if the situation worsens.

Singapore authorities have issued several warnings that the haze has reached unhealthy levels after the Pollutants Standard Index, a measure used in the United States, rose above the 100 mark.

Premier Goh, speaking at a press conference after the talks, said: "We agreed to handle this problem not for the present but for future years ... This is not an easy problem."

Goh said that he and Soeharto agreed to set up meetings of aides, most probably involving the ministers of environment and agriculture, to seek ways to handle the effects of the fires.

He said that Indonesia had apologized to its neighbors, Singapore and Malaysia, for the smoke that has blanketed the region due to the forest fires.

"We will try to prevent the fires from spreading by educating farmers so that they do not burn their fields," Goh said about possible steps to take.

Moerdiono, as quoted by Antara, also said that the cooperation of other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, the Philippines and Thailand -- may also be sought.

"There is a possibility of not only the three countries (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) but more ASEAN countries helping because forest fires could happen anywhere," he said.

Moerdiono also said the worst forest fires were in areas with peat and coal deposits in Kalimantan. He said steps to overcome the effects of the fires will still have to be studied.

Indonesia's Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said earlier yesterday that the fires did not seriously affect the country's natural forests and were mostly limited to industrial timber estates.

They have reportedly been caused by the burning of bushes and tall grass being cleared for the planting season or converted into plantations.

Djamaludin said authorities in the provinces are calling on rural people not to scorch the land for planting purposes. (hdj)