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Monday December 4, 7:50 PMIndonesia downbeat on stopping fires causing haze(Kyodo) _ The Indonesian government on Monday voiced doubt over its ability to extinguish peatland fires contributing to thick haze in the Southeast Asian region."I'm not optimistic, I have to be realistic," Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar told a luncheon at the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club. The haze has sent air quality levels in Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia plunging to unhealthy levels. It started to ease last month with the arrival of the rainy season. Peatland fires, however, continue to burn due to the nature of the soil. "I beg for time (to solve the problem)," Witoelar told the foreign journalists and diplomats. The government can only minimize the risks of destructive fires by taking preventive measures and enforcing laws, he said. Tropical peatlands consist of several layers of dead leaves, plant material and other forest debris that can build up to 20 meters deep. When peatland is drained for logging or agriculture, it becomes highly susceptible to combustion and forest fires. According to a 2001 study of the Asian Development Bank, Indonesia and Malaysia have more than 200 million hectares, or 60 percent, of the world's tropical peatlands. Peatland fires are more difficult than other forest blazes to extinguish because they can "go deep underground and can burn uncontrolled and unseen in the peat deposits for several months," the study said. Witoelar said his ministry will build haze centers in the West Kalimantan provincial capital of Pontianak on the Indonesian part of Borneo Island and the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Sumatra Island to control and evaluate attempts in handling haze. "Those centers will be designed with appropriate technologies and capacities," he said, adding that the centers will prepare a program for handling the haze by building partnerships with neighboring countries. During a recent meeting on haze, five Southeast Asian countries agreed to set up the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Control Fund to assist Indonesia in tackling the haze issue. Each country has pledged $50,000 for the fund, Witoelar said. The fund, however, will only operate after Indonesia ratifies the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Indonesia signed the agreement in 2002 but has yet to ratify it, awaiting endorsement from the parliament. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. |
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