'Land for votes' link to rise in forest fires

New research has lent more weight to allegations about an illicit "land for votes" culture in Indonesia that inevitably leads to an increase in the number of forest fires during local elections season. That is because there is a higher possibility of the land parcels, handed out as campaign incentives by errant regional leaders, being cleared for cultivation using the illegal slash-and-burn method. Dr Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Centre for International Forestry Research who led the study, said satellite data has shown that there were more fires - which cause haze - within the year leading up to a regional election.