April 17, 1999
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| April 17, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Plantation fires in Sumatra causing smoke haze in Singapore Singapore - The illegal burning of land by Indonesian plantation and logging companies in central Sumatra is bringing a smoky haze over neighboring Singapore earlier than expected this year, the Straits Times reported. The fires in central Sumatra are the most serious since March 1998, and brought the air pollution index in Singapore on Thursday to 74, an indication that air quality was ''moderate,'' the paper said, citing the Singapore environment ministry. The dry season is in July, a time when land clearing in Indonesia starts, causing smoke haze to blow from Indonesia to Singapore. This year's haze thus is early. Indonesia suffered damage of more than $4.4 billion from the forest fires in 1997, according to a study by the Economy & Environment Program for Southeast Asia and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. (Bloomberg) | |||||||||
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