Almost going on Holidays, not so happy about that Malaysia is covered by haze again from that moronic country with even dumber people Indonesia. If i would be the president of Malaysia, i would put some heavy sanctions on this country. It costs billions to repair the damage done. Think about Medical costs and Tourism, these kind of news articles are bad for the economy, and worse, it will keep hurting the economy till they do something about their neighbours behaviour, which is of course ridiculous. In the meantime Indonesian officials believe they can put the fire out by TALKING (which they do about every year…) but i never saw any fire go out by just talking about it.
Click on read more to see the article which was placed in the Malaysian STAR newspaper.
Indons host emergency meeting to find solutions to haze
PEKANBARU, Indonesia: Indonesia was hosting an emergency meeting Friday on how to fight annual brush fires that send thick smoke over much of the country as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, disrupting air traffic and triggering health warnings.
Facing criticism for its repeated failure to prevent the blazes, Jakarta said Thursday it would sign a regional treaty to boost cooperation in tackling the problem, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono earlier this week apologized for the smoke.
Environment ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei were to meet Friday in the Indonesian town of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island, one of the areas worst hit by the annual haze that has plagued the region since the 1990s.
“We are truly ashamed by this haze, but are unable to fight it alone,” Chairul Zainal, head of hard-hit Riau province’s environmental impact agency, told The Associated Press.
“It is really disturbing the health of the people and hitting the economy.”
Residents of Pekanbaru said the air had improved because of recent rainfall, but many were skeptical the government would be able to solve the problem.
Zaiaibi, the mother of two children who like many Indonesians uses one name, complained that authorities had failed to act earlier.
She said her children “are suffering respiratory problems and have had bloodshot eyes for weeks.”
The fires on Sumatra island and Indonesia’s portion of Borneo are mostly set by farmers or companies as a cheap way to clear land for plantations.
The peaty soil often smolders for weeks or months.
Teams of firefighters are trying to extinguish the blazes, and police have arrested scores of landowners in recent weeks.
However, officials have said that seasonal rains – forecast to fall in the next few weeks – are the only way to snuff all the fires out.
The land-clearing fires resulted in Southeast Asia’s worst haze in 1997-98, when smoke from Sumatra blanketed much of the region and was blamed for losses of nearly US$9 billion in tourism, health costs and business.
So a week later the Indonesian government, as smart as they are, decide to send the military to the area to help to take the fire out. I am sure they did arm them with a bucket of water to fight the fire.
Of course the Indonesian government forgets again that this is a reoccurring problem, and they might need to do something more constructive to make sure these fire’s will not come back ever.
I am sure an next post will follow somewhere soon, as we are leaving for the area in about 5 days.