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Indonesia makes rain for fires
25/08/2006 11:19 - (SA)
Jakarta - Indonesia will try to induce rain and drop water bombs to extinguish land-clearing fires that are sending smoke across parts of Southeast Asia, affecting air quality and causing respiratory complaints, the government said on Friday.
Welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie said his country wanted more regional co-operation to tackle the haze - which has occurred in the region during most dry seasons since 1998 - because "we don't want to be continuously accused of being a haze exporter".
Most of the fires are on Indonesia's Sumatra island and its part of Borneo island, though some are also set by landowners on the Malaysian section of Borneo, satellite images show.
Cloud-seeding
Bakrie said a cloud-seeding programme would begin next week in the worst-hit districts.
During cloud seeding, silver iodide or dry ice is released into clouds from a plane to increase moisture and induce rain, but its effectiveness has been questioned by some scientists.
"We are aware that the manmade rain is not 100% capable of extinguishing the fires and therefore the government also will drop water bombs," Bakrie said.
Haze
Setting the fires is a cheap and effective way of clearing land for planting.
Residents in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia have been forced to wear masks to protect themselves from the haze in recent weeks, and authorities have reported a spike in respiratory complaints.
State news agency Antara reported on Friday that people in Jambi on Sumatra island were forced to switch their car lights on in the daytime, and that three flights to Kalimantan province had been cancelled because of poor visibility.
Singapore has advised ships to navigate cautiously in its waters as visibility could be "significantly reduced" because of haze, while Thailand also has complained of haze this year.
- AP
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