Indonesia is free to prosecute Malaysian-owned plantations responsible for setting forest-clearing fires on Sumatra island, creating a major air pollution crisis, the foreign minister said yesterday, as he called for a regional action plan to deal with such ecological disasters.
Indonesia on Monday named 10 plantation companies -- eight of them Malaysian -- it wants to hold legally responsible for setting fires to clear land. The practice is illegal, but authorities have rarely enforced the anti-burning laws.
Large parts of Malaysia, including its main city Kuala Lumpur, were covered with the choking smoke for 10 days this month, fouling the air to such hazardous levels that public health was threatened in the country's worst ecological crisis in years. The haze dissipated with changing winds and rains over the weekend.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters that the Malaysian government will not interfere or protest if Indonesia prosecutes the Malaysian companies operating on Sumatra that were identified as having contributed to the problem.
"If any Malaysian companies flout laws of the country they operate in, action should be taken. We will not interfere," he said.
The comment put to rest fears of another diplomatic spat between the two countries, who have often exchanged words over territorial rights, illegal Indonesian migrants in Malaysia and other problems.
Also yesterday, officials from the two countries agreed that joint cloud seeding operations to create artificial rain over burning forests would begin Aug. 22 in Sumatra and Borneo, said Koes Saparjati, an Indonesian Forestry Ministry official in Jakarta.
Cloud seeding involves releasing a chemical at high altitude to accelerate the formation of rain-producing clouds. It has been tried in the past with mixed results, and many scientists have questioned its efficacy.
Syed Hamid said the pollution issue should not be seen as one country's problem.
He said ASEAN already has an agreement on tackling haze, but the pact was ineffective because it lacks specifics.
"This agreement must be translated into an action plan and have a mechanism that can be operationalized when such situations occur. Agreement is one part, implementation is another," he said.
The upcoming summit of ASEAN leaders in December in Kuala Lumpur will discuss setting up an action plan because it needs political will and commitment, Syed Hamid said.
"We need to cooperate effectively on issues such as haze," he said.
Syed Hamid also called on ASEAN's 10 members, who include Malaysia and Indonesia, to standardize their environment laws and have a common standard for air quality.
"We must put in place necessary mechanism in order to prevent it from happening again," he said.
He dismissed suggestions that Indonesia was being lackadaisical in dealing with the problem.
"Let's not make insinuations. I think Indonesia is much interested in the well being of the region," he said.
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