The Albany Gazette - President berates countries that 'insult' Indonesia over wildfires

The Southeast Asian giant has for months struggled to contain fires that Nusantara Atlas, an independent monitor analysing satellite data, said have consumed more than 1.9 million hectares in the nine months to September.

The haze has sent air pollution levels surging to dangerous levels not only at home, but also in Malaysia, Singapore and East Timor, prompting the ASEAN regional bloc to call a meeting over the crisis.

"As for certain countries that like to insult the Indonesian nation, when the time comes, we will reveal the companies involved" Prabowo told a cabinet meeting Wednesday, claiming that "many corporations bear responsibility" for the crisis.

He did not name names or nationalities.

The leaders of Indonesia's neighbours have offered help while steering clear of overt criticism at the highest diplomatic level.

With public anger growing, however, a Malaysian MP last week called for Indonesia to be treated as an "outcast" in the region.

"Indonesia is a polite and patient nation. Our country is often insulted, but believe me, our nation does not want to be insulted all the time," Prabowo said.

The president said he had asked for investigations into the cause of the fires which he insisted was "not purely natural".

Experts say Indonesia's wildfires can be blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and drained peatlands.

This year, the blazes were intensified by a severe drought fuelled by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

"I am asking the police, the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Forestry, with the support of the Armed Forces and intelligence services, to investigate," said Prabowo.

"The people have also caught various individuals who deliberately set fires -- this is something we can regard as environmental terrorism."

The president, who marked two years in office Tuesday with record-low approval levels, said deliberate fire-setting amounted to "a crime against humanity, because what they have done endangers the health of millions of our citizens".

Once the evidence is in, he added, "we will revoke all licenses of companies that violate the law".

(A.Johnson--TAG)