Syed Nadzri on Tuesday: Indonesia in a haze over hotspots

THE haze is causing a blurring effect in more ways than one definitely. And the latest overcast came with a statement on Friday by the Indonesian consul-general in Penang Moenir Ari Soenanda who placed a large part of the blame on Malaysian-based companies operating in Indonesia for the current haze situation in the region.
These companies, he said, were responsible for the spate of illegal logging and open burning activities. It is not clear what that was supposed to mean. But, as with what many Indonesian officials had said on several occasions previously, it sounded like Bapak Moenir was trying to absolve blame on one side by pushing it to the other. It’s very much like saying: "Hey, why are you making so much noise about all the smoke coming from Indonesia when it’s your companies which are causing the problem. Blame them."That’s exactly the same script every year for the past 20 years. And frankly, everyone here is getting fed up. It’s always like this when the haze season arrives — Indonesian officials would blame foreign companies for causing the haze; Malaysian ministers would respond by saying that none of the Malaysian companies are involved and amid all the hot air, the forests continue to burn and the smoke is blown across the border to the neighbours.
When the haze does clear, it will only either be due to the end of the dry season or a change in wind direction. And when that happens, hey presto, the debates will also simmer — till next year at least, when the replay button is pressed again. And the whole histrionic is repeated.The current episode is just starting. Scores of hotspots of forest-burning have been detected in Indonesian territory via satellite, and the northern part of the peninsula, especially Penang and Kedah, is bearing the brunt of the smoky environment. And it is only a matter of time, with a change in the wind direction, before the haze envelops other parts of the country, including the capital city and probably spoil Visit Malaysia Year in the process.So, Bapak Moenir, Malaysian companies are causing the haze. But what are the Indonesian authorities doing? To Malaysians choking on the unhealthy air, it does not matter one bit who the culprits are — Malaysians, Indonesians, Egyptians or Martians. Just take them to court, charge them, drag them to the cleaners or expel them. Do something. All we want is for the haze to stop once and for all.The offences are committed on Indonesian soil. So it is up to the Indonesian authorities to act.Sometimes we wonder what has happened to the much-talked about Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution which at one time seemed like it was taking a lifetime to be signed.The pact, which was signed by all Asean members and came into force at the end of 2003, among other things, requires signatories to take legal, administrative and/or other measures to fulfil their obligations under the agreement.The agreement also contains provisions on monitoring as well as simplified customs and immigration procedures for disaster relief.Apart from that, parties are required to co-operate in developing and implementing measures to prevent and monitor transboundary haze pollution, and control sources of fires by developing early warning systems and providing mutual assistance.The agreement also requires the parties concerned to respond promptly to a request for relevant information sought by a state or states affected by such transboundary haze pollution.Quite a mouthful. But what the holy smoke happened to the agreement? Everyone wants to know.At this stage, it may be quite appropriate to recall some of the things that have been said by top Indonesian officials on the subject in recent years:• July 22, 2000: "We will take to court companies which set fires to clear forest lands. This is to give a lesson to delinquent companies so that they will be scared to burn forest land in future." — Indonesia’s then Environment Minister Sonny Keraf.• Aug 8, 2005: "I am sorry. The haze has become more acute for our neighbours in Malaysia and we are truly sorry for this." — Indonesia’s then Environment Minister Rachmat Witoeler.• Jan 12, 2006: "Indonesia will do its best to contain it and manage it. We’ll make sure we won’t wait till the dry season before acting. We promise to be more proactive." — Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.Indonesian officials, including those based in Malaysia, are not likely to take the above comments too kindly.I personally know many of them at the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, including the ambassador himself and they are very nice people indeed.But sometimes there are things that need to be said, especially over issues like the haze which keeps recurring every year and which has become a hazard to Malaysians.There will also be those who will make use of commentaries like the above to show that the Malaysian media is hostile towards Indonesia and could disrupt the good bilateral relations.Well, if that’s the premise, then the Indonesian press is no better as could be seen from its rousing coverage of the alleged mistreatment of Indonesian migrant workers by Malaysian employers as well as the issue of the overlapping claims of the oil-rich Ambalat sea block in the Sulawesi Sea.Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said recently that he could not understand why the Indonesian mass media was actively reporting incidents which only involved 0.0001 per cent of the Indonesian manpower such as abuse and raids on illegal immigrants and deportation."The positive aspects of the successes of the majority of immigrant workers who entered Malaysia legally to eke a living and contribute to the Indonesian economic growth, and the fine treatment of Indonesian housemaids by their Malaysian employers who considered them as part of the family, were not reported to the extent that the Indonesian people had a negative perception of the Malaysian employers."All said, the Malaysian media I believe, has generally been quite accommodating and one example was its compliance to the request to stop using the term "Indons" when referring to Indonesian nationals.This has been adhered to as a matter of goodwill although this term has never been considered derogatory. After all, it’s partly newspaper language everywhere to use short words or shortened words, and that’s why words like woe (for adversity), awe (astonishing), row (quarrel), axe (exclude), quit (resignation), cut (decrease), up (increase), etc are all over the place in any newspaper.So, it was Indons for Indonesians. By the way, similar non-derogatory terms are used for other nationals as well — Aussies, Brits, Yankees and Kiwis. Nggak apa apa, Pak.