Indonesia's President Now Apologizing To Neighboring Nations For Smoke

Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has apologized for the smoke haze that has choked parts of neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, and agreed to hold a regional meeting to tackle forest fires in the country. ``Under the name of the Indonesian government, I should apologize to the neighboring countries over this incident,'' Yudhoyono told reporters in Jakarta today. ``Clearly, it's not something we want.''

The apology follows calls by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia's opposition Democratic Action Party that Indonesia must deal with the forest fires. Lee had written to Yudhoyono expressing his ``disappointment'' over the recurring problem, Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement today.

Smoke from forest fires in Malaysia and Indonesia clouds the region annually as farmers on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra clear land by burning trees and bushes. The haze choked much of Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998, causing economic losses of almost $9 billion as travelers shunned the region and health-care costs increased.

``Law enforcement is needed,'' said Jhonny S. Mundung, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, a non-government organization. ``We must catch the big companies.'' In the May to September period, some 180,000 hectares of land was burned, Mundung said citing data complied by his organization.

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