Every year the same haze problem occurs and every year the
Indonesian government vows to tackle the problem and promises that
it wont occur the very next year.
Firstly, the reality is that the peasants/farmers in Indonesia,
being uneducated and of very meager funding, does not have the
environmental sense nor the financial capacity to clear the lands
for the next re-harvesting season besides using the most simple,
direct and primitive method of burning the land.
Secondly, the huge plantations are owned by conglomerates and MNCs
all over Asia (and not just Indonesian firms, contrary to popular
belief). These firms lobby hard (or bribe hard, if you wish) for
the right to clear the plantations/forests their manner, based on
the right that the very land that the plantation/forests sits on
belongs to them. And this means the use of fire (which is cheap and
maintains their profit margins), never mind the fact that they are
destroying the environment in the process.
Lastly, the Indo government, facing pressure from its ASEAN
neighbors, opts to pay lip-service and to offer minimal endeavor to
douse the ailing situation. By doing so, it reckons that it is the
best way to satisfy both stakeholders in the form of the
International community and the firms that form a core of the
nations economy. Likewise, if the government were to sanction
against the rouge firms who opt for such primitive fire burning
methods to clear the lands, it might undoubtedly trickle down the
hierarchy and cause the peasants/farmers much problems, leaving
them in between a rock and a hard place.
