Indonesian bush fire hotspots flare, deadly haze thickens: officials
Pastor Dale Morgan
Indonesian bush fire hotspots flare, deadly haze thickens: officials*
by Staff Writers
Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) June 16, 2009
More than 400 bush fires have been recorded burning in Indonesia's Riau
province so far in June, a huge increase from the same time last year,
officials said Tuesday.
Smoke from the fires is causing haze that is drifting across
neighbouring Malaysia, where authorities said Sunday air quality and
visibility in some areas had fallen from "good" to "moderate" over the
previous week.
Most of the illegal fires were the result of land and forest clearing
for traditional farming and palm oil plantations, forestry ministry
official Israr Albar said.
"The number of hotspots may increase two to three-fold this month. The
farmers are clearing land for cultivation in more areas," he said.
"Land cleared by local residents accounted for 65 to 70 percent of the
fires."
There were 401 hotspots in Riau this month compared to 227 in the whole
of June last year, he said.
Almost 1,000 hotspots were detected in Riau, 73 in West Kalimantan and
18 in Central Kalimantan last month, the start of the dry season.
Agricultural burning during the dry season, which ends around September,
is an annual source of smoky haze that affects tourism and contributes
to health problems across the region.
The government has outlawed land-clearing by fire but weak enforcement
means the ban is largely ignored.
Environment ministers from Singapore, Malaysia and other regional
nations have urged Indonesia to promptly ratify a regional treaty aimed
at preventing cross-border haze pollution.