The fires -- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have unleashed choking haze across Southeast Asia (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY) |
Indonesia
has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the
archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels
plummeting and sparks flight cancellations.
Jakarta has
deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into
charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where
thousands of schools have been shut over health fears.
The fires
-- usually started by illegal burning to clear land for farming -- have unleashed
choking haze across Southeast Asia, triggering diplomatic tensions with
Indonesia's neighbours.
On Monday,
authorities said they had arrested some 185 people suspected of being involved
in activities that led to out-of-control fires sweeping the country.
"Indonesian
Police will enforce the law against anyone who is proven to have carried out
forest and land burning, whether it was done intentionally or through
negligence," National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters in
Jakarta.
"This is a last resort. The most important thing is prevention."
Indonesia's
peat fires: a smouldering problem (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)
|
"This is a last resort. The most important thing is prevention."
Four
corporations were also being investigated, he added.
Last week,
Indonesia sealed off dozens of plantations where smog-belching fires were
blazing, and warned that owners -- including Malaysia and Singapore-based firms
-- could face criminal charges if there was evidence of illegal burning.
Some of the
most serious fires occur in peatlands, which are highly combustible when
drained of water to be converted into agricultural plantations.
Thick haze
in Borneo -- where air quality levels have plummeted to "dangerous"
levels in some areas -- caused the cancellation of about a dozen flights
Sunday, national airline Garuda said.
Rival Lion
Air said about 160 Borneo flights had been affected at the weekend.
Meanwhile,
nearly 150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections linked
to the haze in recent months, according to Indonesian health authorities.
While forest fires are an annual problem, the situation this year has been worsened by drier weather in Indonesia, with diplomatic tensions soaring as toxic smog drifts over to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
Nearly
150,000 people have been treated for acute respiratory infections
linked to the
haze in recent months (AFP Photo/Str)
|
While forest fires are an annual problem, the situation this year has been worsened by drier weather in Indonesia, with diplomatic tensions soaring as toxic smog drifts over to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
The haze
pushed Singapore's air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three
years at the weekend.
In 2015,
Indonesia suffered its worst forest fires for almost two decades, which
dramatically increased its greenhouse gas emissions.
Huge fires
tearing through the Amazon are also compounding concerns about the long-term
impact of such blazes on keeping global temperature levels stable.
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Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to a hard-hit areahttps://t.co/eyIkMCRURG— AFP news agency (@AFP) 17 september 2019
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