[Kabar-indonesia] ASEAN choked by haze to help Indonesia deal with forest fires

[Joyo at aol.com]

ASEAN choked by haze to help Indonesia deal with forest
fires

MANILA (AP, Nov. 10, 2006): Countries hardest hit by haze
from Indonesia's forest fires agreed to Jakarta's proposal
to "adopt" fire-prone districts in the sprawling archipelago
to help them deal with the recurring problem, officials said
Friday.

Environment ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore and Thailand, comprising a sub-regional
Ministerial Steering Committee on the haze problem, agreed
with Indonesia's proposal "to adopt one or more fire-prone
districts/regencies forenhancing capacity to deal with land
and forest fires," a statement issued by the committee said.

The statement did not offer details.

The ministers met in the central Philippines' Cebu province
late Thursday, and were joined Friday by counterparts from
the rest of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
Nations for an annual meeting that ends Saturday.

The ministers also endorsed Indonesia's plan of action in
dealing with the haze and agreed on the urgency of
organizing a high-level international conference next month
in Indonesia to generate support for Jakarta's action.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong recently urged members
to demonstrate willpower to solve the recurring problem,
saying it was just a question of enforcing measures that
have already been agreed to.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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