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JAKARTA - Indonesia aims to halve the number of forest fires this year in an effort to tackle the choking haze which affects the region annually, a minister said Wednesday after Southeast Asian talks on the issue.
Environment ministers from Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore and deputy ministers from Malaysia and Thailand held talks in Jambi on Sumatra island to track progress on mapping out plans to reduce the haze, which triggers health alerts and damages tourism.
"We are targeting a drop of about 50 percent in forest fires but we are entering the dry season between July and August so we have to increase our alertness," deputy environment minister Masnellyarti Hilman told AFP.
"We explained the efforts that we've taken to prevent a repeat of the choking haze ... and they praised our efforts," Hilman said.
A statement released after the meeting said that so far this year, the number of so-called hotspots had dropped by 58 percent compared to last year.
But the dry season, when plantation companies and farmers typically do their burning to clear land, has yet to begin. Meteorologists are also predicting a wetter than usual monsoon this year, which should help control the fires.
"There will be an increase in rainfall of 10 to 20 percent (above average) this year," meteorologist Suardi, from the meteorology and geophysics agency, told AFP.
He forecast that August and September would be the driest months this year.
Neighbouring nations affected by the haze have agreed to "adopt a fire-prone district" from the archipelago in a bid to cut the pollution, Hilman said.
"Malaysia agreed to assist Rokan Hilir in Riau and Singapore will assist Jambi," Hilman said. "They have presented an action plan -- the review process should be finished by the end of this month."
Indonesia also presented to the meeting a plan to include a "zero-burning" criteria in certification processes of forest products within Association of
Southeast Asian Nations members and a standardised communication procedure during crisis periods, Hilman said.
Forestry minister Malam Sambat Kaban said earlier this month that Indonesia was prepared to battle the fires.
"Haze patrols are ready in every potentially hit province. Helicopters will operate two hours every day for the early detection of suspected areas and put out fires when they find them," he said.
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand agreed to create a committee to oversee the implementation of concrete actions to address the forest fires and the resulting haze during a meeting in November.
The haze hit its worst level in 1997-1998 and cost the Southeast Asian region an estimated nine billion dollars by disrupting air travel and other business activities. - AFP/ir
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