Severe smog in Singapore is the fault of the Indonesian government’s failure to enforce forest protection laws, according to Greenpeace South Asia. Fires lit to clear forest for agricultural use in Indonesia have sent huge plumes of smoke drifting east to Singapore and Malaysia. Observers warn that much of the Sumatra rainforest could be eradicated in the next two decades, as palm oil plantations and paper factories expand operations. Pollution levels have hit record levels and governments have been exchanging blame between each other and the companies behind the clearances. In May 2010 Indonesia signed a deal agreeing to protect 65 million hectares of virgin forest from developers. “We found 50% of the fires to be inside the moratorium area, mostly in the peatlands,” said Yuyun Indradi, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace South Asia based in Jakarta. “In the moratorium area it is clearly the government’s responsibility to protect the forest. This is industrial scale burning. It is easy to find out who is behind it.” - See more at: rtcc.org/indonesian-government-blamed-for-singapore-smog/#sthash.daUlwOr4.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 22:54:55 +0000