Smoke From Indonesia Fires Again Threatens the Region

Hundreds of man-made fires are burning again in remote areas of Indonesia, blackening vast areas of rain forest and sending pungent smoke across several countries.
The fires, mostly set by owners of large plantations to clear land on Borneo and Sumatra, reached a peak two years ago, when thick smog dimmed the sun in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as Indonesia.
Now some environmental groups are warning that this could be another disaster year, and officials from 10 countries in the region met in Singapore today to press Indonesia to take action.
''Certainly we hope that it will not be worse than it was two years ago,'' said Dedi Jefri, an official of Indonesia's leading private environmental group, Walhi. ''But actually if the Government does not take preventive action, it could be at least as bad this year.''
In a report this month, Walhi said at least 441 fires were burning as the dry season got under way.
Though the smog is far thinner than at its peak two years ago, it has already caused some airlines to divert flights and is blamed for a collision of a barge and a tanker off Sumatra two weeks ago that cost 10 lives.
But there may be little anyone can do about it.
Under international pressure, Indonesia passed laws in 1997 forbidding the use of fire to clear land during the dry season, from July through October. Officials said 176 companies were suspected of using the method. But so far, not one has been successfully prosecuted.
With the Government weak and distracted by politics and continuing outbreaks of violence, a former official said, there was little hope of effective enforcement.
The companies involved are powerful and well connected, and the revenue from the plantations is desperately needed as Indonesia's economy continues to founder, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A British environmental group, Down to Earth, said in a recent report, ''The forest fires are a symptom of the crisis in Indonesian politics, economics and forestry policy.''
Environmental groups estimated that the fires in 1997 destroyed 25 million acres of forest land and caused losses to Indonesia of nearly $9 billion.
In Singapore this week, Emmanuel Nabet, managing director of Spot Asia, an international supplier of geographic information, said nearby countries were losing patience.
''I think we are going to see a very interesting meeting because Indonesia's neighbors seem to be fed up with the situation,'' he said in a report by The Associated Press.
The smog has been most troublesome to Malaysia, where in 1997 it turned noon into dusk and forced residents of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, to wear surgical masks.
For fear of scaring off tourists, the response in Malaysia this year has been to declare that there is no smog. On Aug. 5 the Government there announced it would no longer publish regular updates of its pollution index. Malaysian officials blamed the smog for a 13 percent drop in tourists in 1997, to 6.2 million.
''There is nothing alarming,'' said the Environment Minister, Law Hieng Ding. ''Why do you all trust CNN? People can see for themselves.'' CNN and foreign newspapers and magazines have shown pictures of Kuala Lumpur's skyline blurred by smog.