HAZE no more, is the promise Jakarta makes to its neighbours. This time next year, the air will be clear. So they say. No longer will there be the seasonal dangerous levels of air pollution that causes a spike in the incidence of respiratory illnesses in this country and Singapore, especially, and the region, generally. The dry season will return to what it was many decades ago before the days of corporations resorting to slashing and burning to clear large tracts of land for cultivation of such cash crops as oil palm. That is, if the commitment promised by the Indonesian authorities is carried through to its logical conclusion: heavy penalties on offenders.
To continue reading the rest of the article, click here