Indonesia: crackdown to stop forest fires

The Indonesian government has told plantation owners to extinguish forest fires on their land within two weeks or face prosecution.

A spokesman for the Forests and Plantation ministry, Widodo Sutoyo, said land owners would be held responsible for extinguishing fires even if they had been started by others.

He said that those found guilty of negligence could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

A number of plantation companies are accused of having resumed the burning of forests in order to clear land.

In recent years, the fires have caused serious air pollution problems across South East Asia and led to protests by neighbouring countries. Indonesian officials said that the air quality in the province of West Kalimantan had improved after several days of thick smog, but that it is still classified as unhealthy.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service