SE Asia smog symptom of environment neglect

SE Asia smog symptom of environment neglect

By Nick Edwards

SINGAPORE (Reuter): The throat-clutching smog now choking much
of Southeast Asia shows just how much the environment has been
neglected in a quick and dirty dash for growth, environmental
technology experts say.

Asia has recorded phenomenal economic growth over the last two
decades and with it has come heavy pollution, a problem
exacerbated in Southeast Asia in recent weeks by smoke from
Indonesian forest and bush fires.

Malaysia has declared a national disaster because of the haze
and yesterday its eastern state of Sarawak announced a state of
emergency.

In clean and green neighboring Singapore air pollution hit its
worst level ever on Thursday.

The common argument that the need to provide jobs in a poor
and populous region outweighs concerns for the environment is
indefensible, the technological experts say.

"It's a cop-out," said Mark Harrison, business services
manager at the Singapore-based Regional Institute of
Environmental Technology (RIET).

"What we're up against is inertia and the belief that the free
market will always provide the most effective means of
production. It's a cop-out and the biggest obstacle."

Justin Taylor, of the Singapore energy consultancy Super
Solutions, blamed the "ying and yang" approach to development in
Asia.

"If there is a benefit, it is a given that there must be a
cost, which is the rationalization for waste and damage," he
said.

Southeast Asia's fast-burgeoning consumer class grows
wealthier by the day.

Factories pour out pollutants and cities grind to a halt in
choking traffic while the age-old tradition of burning off
tropical bush and forest to clear land for agriculture sends
smoke billowing into the air.

This year, with drought gripping much of Indonesia, the old
slash and burn clearances have raged out of control.

The smoke has spread across Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and
Singapore, trapping modern cities under a leaden grey dome,
blotting out the sun and choking their inhabitants.

Though Southeast Asian countries are loathe to criticize each
other over what they consider internal affairs, the pollution has
grown so serious that it topped the agenda at a meeting of
regional environment ministers in Jakarta earlier this week.

President Soeharto apologized to the ministers of his
neighboring countries for the choking haze but said Indonesia was
doing its best to put the fires out.

"We don't lack laws and regulations, perhaps we have too many
of them. It takes a huge crisis for us to really see that we have
a basic problem of governance," Environment Minister Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja told reporters.

"The problem with us is that we don't enforce these laws."
Elsewhere in Asia air pollution has set in hard.

The World Health Organization says New Delhi is the fourth
most polluted city in the world. It estimates that in 1996, 1.2
million of the city's nine million people were treated for, and
7,500 died prematurely from, pollution-related disease.

Environmentalists say China's toxic mixture of ageing and
inefficient industry, heavy reliance on coal and roaring economic
growth would strain even the loosest targets for controlling
greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Acid rain strips the leaves from trees across much of southern
China, while dirty air is blamed for high incidences of
respiratory disease in cities such as Chongqing on the pollution-
clogged Yangtze River.

South Korea's car industry, one of the miracles of its
economic development, has come back to haunt the 12 million
people of Seoul. The Environment Ministry says vehicle exhaust
emissions are the overwhelming cause of pollution.

At least 6.5 million tonnes of toxic waste are generated every
year in and around the Philippine capital of Manila, where no
major facility exists to treat it.

The Regional Institute of Environmental Technology says
pollution, including contamination of ground and surface water,
deters investment and tourism in the Philippines, but said
significant business potential exists for companies that could
build a waste treatment plant, estimated to cost US$50 million.

Air quality in Thailand's traffic-clogged capital of Bangkok
is also plagued by exhaust fumes and dust from numerous
construction sites.

A study by the Thai Science Technology and Environment
Ministry showed healthcare costs for pollution-related illnesses
were about US$65 per person per month. Treatment of patients with
other ailments costs about US$9 per month.

Taiwan says its pollution problem has improved after years of
efforts, including daily fines of up to US$10,500 for companies
breaking environment laws.

But the use of pesticides is still heavy and fishermen
complain of high sea temperatures in areas where nuclear power
plants discharge non-radioactive water.

Japan, which 30 years ago had the problems faced by Southeast
Asia now, has tough anti-pollution laws born out of some of the
worst cases of industrial pollution.

"There's only one way to sell ecology in Asia and that's to
dress it up as a profit-making business. Which it is," RIET's
Harrison said.

Wiser use of resources, introduction of efficient technology
and tough regulation would force business to become more eco-
friendly.

"We can solve this problem with market-based systems, but it
requires the game rules to be set by governments," he said.

Taylor, of Super Solutions, said between 30 and 40 percent of
all power generated in Asia was wasted by inefficient practices
and equipment.

"What we're saying is that the quickest, easiest, cheapest
route (to growth) isn't the one companies in the region have been
on," he said.

"Studies show the cost of efficiency is cheaper than the cost
of burning fuel."