 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Rains Clear Skies Over Indonesia's Haze-Struck Sumatra
Jakarta (AFP) Aug 18, 2005 Rains have cleared skies over Indonesia's Sumatra where fires caused a choking haze which smothered the region, officials said Thursday as probes into companies accused of being responsible were launched. An official in Riau province, one of the main sources of the fires, said 72 plantation firms based there were being investigated over alleged illegal slash-and-burn activities after calls for tough action against the culprits. "We have formed ten teams and they are investigating whether the fires were acts of slash-and-burn or not," environmental impact agency chief Chairul Zainal told AFP, declining to give details of the companies. Indonesia's forestry ministry earlier this week said eight out of 10 companies accused of burning land for cultivation were Malaysian-owned, but all 18 Malaysian companies operating in Indonesia denied responsibility. The hazardous haze had meanwhile been washed away, Sarman from a meteorology office in Riau province said. "The sky is clear now, with visibility at around eight kilometers (five miles) at 11:00 am," he told AFP, adding that rain had fallen for three days. Rain late Wednesday also helped clear Labuhan Batu, a district in North Sumatra province bordering Riau and another source of the haze, Sergeant Master Damanik of the police headquarters said. "The haze was still there yesterday (Wednesday) but because of the rain last night, the sky is quite clear this morning," he told AFP. In Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, rains have fallen since Tuesday and gradually cleared the sky there too, a local meteorology office worker who gave his name as Wahyu said. Hundreds of fires on Sumatra island last week smothered the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and surrounding districts as well as the west coast where pollution reached hazardous levels. Shifting winds brought relief to those areas over the weekend but pushed the problem north to regions along the Malaysia-Thailand border and onto the Thai resort island of Phuket. Officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Malaysia Wednesday called for the group's members to fight the fires because drier weather conditions with below average rainfall was expected until October in parts of Sumatra and Borneo island, where fires are also burning. In 1997 and 1998 choking haze caused mainly by Indonesian forest fires enveloped parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, for months. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
ASEAN Open To Help From China, Japan, South Korea To Combat Haze: Official
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Aug 18, 2005ASEAN will welcome any help from China, Japan and South Korea to combat the haze crisis caused by Indonesian forest fires, an official said Thursday ahead of talks among the dialogue partners. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
