INDONESIAN FOREST FIRES

[Guest guest]

 Let us pray for rain, says leader as nation chokes

By Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1731743,00.html

 

MALAYSIAN authorities declared a state of emergency yesterday after smoke from

Indonesian forest fires reached toxic levels, closing schools and airports,

jeopardising ships, and choking people in one of South-East Asia’s most densely

populated areas.

The Government declared states of emergency in the Kuala Selangor area and in

the country’s biggest shipping terminus, Port Klang, which closed for an hour

and half after air pollution rose to levels judged to be dangerous to health.

Both are close to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, which has been swathed for a week

in the dense smoke known euphemistically as “haze”.

 

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian Prime Minister, urged mosques to hold

prayers for rain to wash away the smoke. “This is my approach,” he said. “When

such things happen, we must also pray to God to seek help.”

 

 

 

In meetings in Indonesia, officials from the two countries also agreed to send

up aircraft to “seed” clouds in an attempt to bring rain.

 

The smoke is caused by hundreds of forest fires, most of them on the vast

Indonesia island of Sumatra. Since the first such crisis in 1997, the drifting

haze has become a regular feature of the dry months.

 

Malaysian newspapers and websites carried indignant articles demanding that the

Government in Jakarta deal with the problem, but so far Malaysian leaders have

maintained their customarily diplomatic stance.

 

Mr Badawi was said to have telephoned President Yudhoyono of Indonesia and

offered to send firefighters to Sumatra.

 

“We must sit down and discuss and consult,” Syed Hamid Albar, the Malaysian

Foreign Minister, said. “This is the common interest. We cannot go into an open

conflict — that will not be good for the region.” In 1997 smoke caused losses

estimated at almost £5 billion when smoke from Sumatra and Borneo caused lung

problems, drove away tourists and contributed to fatal accidents in Indonesia,

Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines. The fires also

threatened Borneo’s wildlife, including endangered orang-utans and proboscis

monkeys.

 

This year already threatens to be as bad, if not worse, showing the Indonesian

Government’s apparent helplessness in preventing the illegal logging which is

the primary cause of the problem.

 

“Malaysians want an explanation why the Indonesian Government cannot stop the

haze from becoming a tragic annual event,” Lim Kit Siang, Malaysia’s opposition

leader, said. “As the source of haze is in Sumatra, Malaysians are powerless to

do anything.”

 

Illegal loggers strip the tropical rainforests for timber, exposing the jungle

floor to the sun. It then dries out, creating vast areas of tinder which can

ignite spontaneously. Oil palm planters also burn forest to clear it for their

crops. Once the fires rage out of control there is little that a country as poor

as Indonesia can do to put them out. Regulations restricting burning are

routinely ignored by companies, and local authorities have little power or

incentive to track down violators. In some places, surface fires have ignited

the underlying peat and even coal seams, causing underground fires which are

both polluting and extremely difficult to extinguish.

 

Visibility in Kuala Lumpur yesterday was as little as 180 metres and city’s

airports were disrupted. Fishermen in the Straits of Malacca, one of the world’s

busiest sea lanes, have stopped going out to sea for fear of being run down by

larger vessels.

 

Hundreds of schools in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley remained

closed yesterday, and there have been reports of an increase in asthma and other

respiratory problems. Open burning has been banned and people have been advised

to stay indoors. In a symbolic gesture, Mr Badawi gave his motorcycle outriders

the day off to protect them from the haze.

 

The popular tourist resorts of Langkawi and Penang in northern Malaysia have not

so far been seriously affected by the smoke.

 

KILLER IN THE MIST

 

London became famous for its smokey air in the 19th century when large numbers

perished, including 2,000 people in 1880. In December 1952 the air became so

thick during the “Great Smog” that concerts were cancelled because audiences

could not see the stage. More than 4,000 people died of breathing difficulties

during the five worst days with many drowning after stumbling into the Thames. A

further 8,000 are believed to have died in the months that followed

Dense smog settled on Donora, Pennsylvania, for five days in October 1948. At

midday visibility was less than 30cm and 20 died and thousands fell ill.

President Truman convened the first national air pollution conference two years

later

In 1997 and 1998 the smoke from man-made fires lit to clear land in Sumatra and

Borneo was blamed for shipping collisions in the Straits of Malacca, traffic

accidents and at least one air crash. The smoke caused an estimated £5 billion

of economic damage and 20 million people fell ill