Catherine Shepherd and Keith Loveard, Jakarta – In Indonesia these days, many people are holding their breath in more ways than one. For two months now, sections of the country have been enveloped in a dark gray haze. Airports on several islands have been closed when the smog made landing too dangerous, and in early August, visibility in the Sumatran city of Medan went from the normal four kilometers to 200 meters. Recounts a recent visitor: "I was horrified we were going to land under such conditions. You couldn't see the runway at all."
Parts of Malaysia and Singapore are also immersed in the same unhealthy haze, which is created every year by man-made forest fires in Indonesia. Malaysia's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment reports decreasing visibility in Penang, northwest of Kuala Lumpur, and East Malaysia's Sarawak, and air quality is becoming hazardous.
Who is behind the fires fouling Southeast Asia's air? Slash-and-burn farmers usually get the blame, having no other recourse but to burn forest cover to clear land for cultivation. But recently, experts have pointed fingers at large agricultural and timber companies clearing land for oil-palm and industrial forest plantations – on a massive scale. "They burn 1,000 hectares at a time, while shifting cultivators burn only a hectare at a time," says Emy Hafild, executive director of the Indonesian Environment Forum. Logging methods add to the problem. Once loggers have chopped down trees, they leave about half their cuttings on the forest floor – ready to fuel a blaze. Weather conditions are incendiary as well: the archipelago is suffering its worst drought in five years.
On Aug. 13 in Jakarta, officials from ASEAN discussed the haze during a meeting of the grouping's Senior Officers on Environment Task Force. On the agenda: sharing the cost of water-bombing fires. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has asked for expert help from countries like Canada and the U.S. Negotiations are under way to buy or lease water-bombing aircraft from Canadian plane-maker Bombardier. They can unload more than 50,000 liters an hour, drawn from the ocean rather than tanks on an airfield. But it's not cheap: operating one Bombardier plane costs an estimated $200,000 a month.
Jakarta officials are also looking into seeding clouds for rain on Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi island, and on Java's most severely affected areas. Indonesia has also agreed to increase policing efforts against illegal fires, especially in remote parts of the country. Malaysia's National Haze Committee suggests setting up volunteer fire brigades and hotlines to take reports of unlawful burning. Hafild is concerned that these measures will adversely affect small farmers with no means to clear land but fire. Even though the Indonesian government knows the major culprits are not shifting cultivators, it has not found the voice to say so. The director general of forestry, Titus Saridjanto, admits no immediate solution is apparent. Certainly, there seems to be little pressure from the public for official action. Having put up with the haze year in, year out, Indonesians just stay indoors in the worst areas. Elsewhere, a handkerchief on the nose and mouth is deemed enough protection on the street, and mostly against vehicle fumes, which are worse than the haze. Hospitals are not reporting a sudden rise in breathing complaints, and few companies are seeing productivity decline sharply. So anyone expecting heads to roll over the haze hazard to public health shouldn't hold his breath.
What the haze does to you
The dark haze that hangs over much of Sumatra and Kalimantan, thrown up by thousands of hectares of forest fires, would make a tree-hugging environmentalist weep. But even Indonesians used to the annual plague of clouds are weeping – from the potent mixture of smoke, dust and trapped smog. Luckily, the areas of the archipelago severely affected are not heavily populated.
Still, many of the 20 million Indonesians exposed to the haze complain of minor symptoms related to smoke inhalation, says Dr. Bastaman Basuki, head of the Department of Community Health at the University of Indonesia. These include irritation of the nose and throat, shortness of breath, and gray, gritty mucus. Long-term exposure to smoke can have severe consequences like lung disease and suffocation.
So far, says Bastaman, nobody's symptoms have reached the dangerous stage. Still, there are signs that the annual hazy visitation is affecting the national constitution. The most common health complaint in Indonesia – even when the air is smoke-free – is a sore throat.
What about the possibility of cancer or permanent lung damage? "There is no evidence to suggest such a possibility," maintains Bastaman. "We don't see any proof." While there is no apparent proof of serious, long-term harm, Indonesians unlucky enough to live and breathe under the vapor every year surely wish something can be done to clear the air.