S.E. Asia on 'haze alert'

S.E. Asia on 'haze alert'

SINGAPORE (AFP): A "haze alert" system warning members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) against cross- border air pollution has been activated, the Sunday Times newspaper reported here.

The four-level alert was used for the first time by Indonesia last week when smoke from forest fires in Sumatra blanketed parts of Singapore with thick gray haze, triggering fears of a repetition of last year's environmental problems.

Large parts of Southeast Asia were covered with haze for several months last year because of raging forest fires in Indonesia, which has taken steps to check such problems in cooperation with its smaller neighbors.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The report said a "Level 1" warning, the highest, was raised last week because winds were blowing smoke from Sumatra forest and land-clearing fires toward Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.