Huge blaze bill for south-east Asia

Economic experts now estimate that the Indonesian forest fires which have been blazing intermittently for nearly a year could cost the region up to six-billion dollars.

The sum includes direct losses such as agricultural output, and indirect costs like medical bills and a drop in tourism.

The figures were arrived at by the Worldwide Fund for Nature and a research group funded by western governments, the Economy and Environment Programme for South-East Asia.

A spokesman said the bill would be equivalent to two-and-a-half percent of the combined annual production of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service