Vaudine England and Agencies, Pekanbaru – The end of Indonesia's rainy season is once again revealing the chaos created by allowing plantation owners and farmers to clear land by setting fires.

The result is a resurgence in forest fires which have created a haze hazard in neighbouring Singapore and caused the diversion of some flights in and out of Pekanbaru in Riau province.

There are fears of a repeat of the 1997-98 haze and fires which burned more than 9.7 million hectares and cost Indonesia's forestry, agriculture, health, transport and tourism industries an estimated HK$73 billion.

But Indonesia is still a long way off finding a solution to the problem: silly laws, under-funded fire-fighters, lack of legal sanctions and the growing dissonance between the provinces and Jakarta mean there is a real likelihood authorities will again fail to respond adequately.

Visibility was down to a few hundred metres in Pekanbaru yesterday and government officials described the air quality over parts of the island as dangerous, as up to 500 brush fires raged out of control.

A dark grey cloud hung low over the city and many people stayed indoors. Teuku Alamsyah, a senior local government official, said: "It is hazardous and could cause lung infections and other health problems."

Khodijah Nurhadi of the Sumatra Environmental Supervising Body, said it had recommended a state of emergency be declared around Pekanbaru.

Mr Teuku said local firefighters were not equipped to deal with the problem and have requested assistance from the military. He said many of the firefighting teams only have one small water truck. These have to travel far to refill before being able to return to the blaze. Many of the fires were also inaccessible. Government officials were handing out face masks to people to protect them from the pollution.

Under Indonesian law the Department of Estate Crops fights a fire if it is on company land, and the Forestry Department the rest. But such fine distinctions create practical headaches. Little word has surfaced on the success of planned prosecutions of scores of private companies for illegally setting fires during the problems in 1997, so firms don't fear penalties if they are caught setting fires.

The Forestry Department believes the current rash of fires can be blamed on plantation owners, who see fires as the cheapest and quickest way to clear land. Indonesia can only expect more international pressure for it to find ways to halt environmental degradation.