Satellite pictures on October 19, 2010, exhibited the presence of 202 hot spots in Sumatra, indicating the areas where Indonesia farmers and plantation companies 
had started fires to clear large tracts of the forests to prepare the lands for the crop-planting season. Since the early 1990s, such a practice led to the development of a choking and smoky pall that engulfs Singapore and Malaysia. The prevailing winds originating from the southwes t direction helped to carry the smoke to Singapore. The hot and dry weather in Riau further aggravated the haze problem in 2010 as it was a challenging task to contain the forest fires.
With the presence of companies owning plantations, recurrence of such haze would persist. Several giants in the oil palm and the pulp and paper industry possess concessions 
directly or through their subsidiaries throughout the Riau province. These big companies are influential in causing farmers to shift towards the cultivation of lucrative oil palm from the previous traditional crops. With the entrance of these big companies, infrastructures such as roads and canals, hence further attracting local farmers to engage in oil palm cultivation as the latter can tap on the available infrastructures brought in by the giant companies. However, with the absence of close monitoring and regulation by the local authorities who are involved in the issuance of permits for cultivation, attributing to local farmers using the available lands in an unsustainable, destructive manner.
Activists have also put the blame on big companies as it is realised that some of the fires took place in the vicinity or within the plantations. Large companies generally conform to the ‘no-burning policy’ in Indonesia by hiring contractors to perform land clearance and they subsequently employ villagers who ignited the fires. Activists are also pushing the government to step up the measures to prevent such forest fires. However, the local government has only reacted to the fires but not prevent their occurrences at present. The problem is even more sticky with the coincidence that the location of the hot spots turned out to be the same annually.
With the land clearance practices bringing frequent reports of haze in the Southeast Asian region and affected public health and the economies of neighbouring countries. In order to better tackle the situation, regional cooperation is essential. In addition, the national level could introduce implementations such as putting a ban of cultivating in areas where the peat is more than 3 metres deep and revoke the licences of landowners who are repeat offenders of setting forest fires.
References:
- The Straits Times (October 20, 2010). ‘Thick haze blankets Singapore’
- The Straits Times (October 27, 2010).'No more hot spots, say Riau officials’.
- http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69K1WF20101021
