Southeast Asia to Act on Fire-driven Smog
12/22/97
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Headline: Southeast Asia to Act on Fire-driven Smog
Source: Reuters
Date: 12/22/97
Byline: K.T. Arasu
Copyright 1997: Reuters
SINGAPORE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian environment
ministers agreed on Monday to implement an ``action plan'' to
prevent any recurrence of the smog that choked much of the
region for weeks this year.
``We have identified several urgent matters to address. From
now on we all have to be more sensitive to climate change,''
Indonesian Environment Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said after
a meeting on the problem.
The smog, which lasted from August to October and was
euphemistically known as the haze in the region, was caused
largely by brush and forest fires in Indonesia amid a scorching
drought linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
It hit the region's health and the important tourist
industry, forced schools and airports to close and hamstrung
businesses in some areas.
The Singapore Ministry of Health said in late October the
number of respiratory, skin and eye ailments rose nearly 14
percent in August and September.
Illnesses aggravated or caused by the smoke included
conjunctivitis, asthma, bronchitis and eczema.
More dramatic and tragic was the September 26 crash of a
Garuda Airbus on Indonesian's Sumatra island, which killed all
234 people on board. The crash, the worst in Indonesia's
aviation history, was partly blamed on poor visibility due to
the smog.
Malaysian Ennvironment Minister Law Hieng Ding said Monday's
meeting proposed a plan of action to tackle environmental
problems in the region, but declined to give details.
``All the countries indicated their readiness to work
together... it was a very good meeting, very friendly and very
constructive,'' he told reporters.
Indonesia's Sarwono said the action plan would include
regional seminars on climate and weather change next year and in
1999.
``This is to ensure we are not caught off-guard the next
time it happens,'' he said. ``We are hoping to prevent them. In
Indonesia's case, we have incurred a lot of losses.''
Sarwono said Garuda, Indonesia's national carrier, reported
losses amounting to $24 million due to flight cancellations
because of the smog.
``This is an understatement... they might have lost more,''
he added. ``We are still counting our losses.''
``If we allow such a man-made disaster to happen again in
future, that would be equivalent to a major health and economic
disaster,'' he added. ``This is something we cannot afford.''
He said Indonesia's role in the action plan would focus on
firefighting and the country would develop firefighting research
centres.
Two of the centres would be in Central Kalimantan and
Sumatra, the two main sources of the forest fires, he said.
Sarwono said the action plan formulated by the ministers
from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would be
partially funded by the Asian Development Bank, which would
offer a grant of about $1 million.
Singapore minister Yeo Cheow Tong said Asia's economic
crisis would not hamper ASEAN efforts to combat forest fires.
``The action plan would ensure that we are able to combine
development and programmes together with care for the
environment,'' he told Reuters.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma.