SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Oct 11 (Sunday), the former diplomat and author Bilahari Kausikan commented on the government of Indonesia’s response to the current haze situation that is affecting not only its country but also Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the Philippines, Brunei, and Thailand.
Mr Bilahari shared an article from Mothership which quoted Syahganda Nainggolan, who heads Indonesia's Government Communications Agency, as saying that the fires causing the transboundary haze are a natural phenomenon and are "beyond human error”.
Questioning this promise, he pointed out that in years past, haze was an episodic problem as opposed to the chronic challenge it has become today.
He also acknowledged that current Super El Niño weather conditions have contributed to the haze situation, but emphasised that it has been well established that haze is linked to irresponsible forest clearance for industrial-scale agriculture.
“If it bestirs itself, the Indonesia government can do more, and has done more in the recent past. There hasn’t been bad haze for the last few years. In other words, this is primarily a man-made phenomenon and the consequence of human acts of omission or commission,” wrote the retired diplomat.
He also pointed out how Indonesians are the primary victims of the current haze conditions, but pointed to a lack of care, coupled with corruption and administrative incompetence.
“If they don’t really care about the welfare of their own people, why should they care about Malaysia and Singapore?” he added.
Mr Bilahari also took exception to Mr Syahganda having said that Indonesian forests also provide oxygen to Singapore and Malaysia when there’s no haze.
Calling this an “absurd line,” he added that it’s symptomatic of an attitude of “I am so important that I can do as I please and you should just put up with it.”
He ended his post by writing that the way to spur the government of Indonesia to take the haze situation seriously is to bring the matter up to the United Nations and other international forums, as doing so at a regional level is unlikely to do much good. /TISG