Lifting The Haze

Ms Frances Seymour, the director-general of the Indonesian-based Centre for International Forestry Research, hoped that governments would distinguish between rural farmers and big companies responsible for starting the fires. "The law needs to be tweaked to focus on prosecuting big companies — rather than poor farmers, who burn a small and specific area of land. There has been a serious lack of prosecutions made against the belligerent companies," said Ms Seymour. "So, the reality is companies cause the fires because they can get away with it." She recommended a two-prong approach: A payment scheme for rural farmers to adopt alternative methods and work, as well as the implementation of a performance bond in which companies that flout regulations would be immediately punished with the forfeiture of their bond.