KUALA LUMPUR - It is now decades into this rinse and repeat story, and miraculously, little has changed.
Last week, Malaysia had to close more than 400 schools, as smoke and ash spread to more areas, stretching from Thailand to the Philippines, plunging air quality to unhealthy levels in their wake. This has happened at a time when huge blazes are also singeing their way through the Amazon in South America because of the same reason - clearing jungle land for agriculture.
The number of"hotspots" - areas of intense heat susceptible to fire that's detected by satellite - jumped sharply in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre. What was even worse was the timing of the haze crisis, with it happening during the devastating Asian Financial Crisis. Many of us can recall how the gloomy skies mirrored the sombre mood of Malaysians, with barely any optimism in sight.
I am not an expert on Indonesian law, and I could be wrong, but I have been told that none of Indonesia's national laws make special reference to haze or pollution resulting from slash-and-burn activities. Astonishing as it may sound, Asean has set a goal for a haze-free region by 2020 - that's next year - as part of the agreement. No one can be blamed for thinking this a lofty goal. Truth be told, it's even laughable.
The writer, Dio Herdiawan Tobing, a research associate at the Asean Studies Centre at Universitas Gadjah Mada, detailed his trip with his research team to Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, one of Indonesia's hotspots for land and forest fires.
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