TEMPO.CO, Bandar Seri Begawan - Foreign ministers from Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged Indonesia to immediately ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze. Indonesia is the only nation in the region that has not ratified this pact.

"We... stressed the importance for regional countries to uphold their international obligations and work together to tackle the transboundary haze pollution problem," the foreign ministers said in a joint communiqué last Sunday. They called on “ASEAN member states that have not yet ratified and operationalized the [treaty] to do so expeditiously".

The communiqué was formulated at the 46th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Brunei Darussalam’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan held last Saturday and Sunday.

The treaty aims to stop cross-border smog pollution caused by forest fires by requiring parties to prevent burning, monitor prevention efforts, exchange information on the problem and provide mutual help.

The Indonesian government sought approval of the pact from the House of Representatives (DPR) in 2008 but it was rejected. Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the treaty had been resubmitted to the current legislature, although no timeline for ratification was given.

The haze caused by the massive forest fires in Riau that spread to Singapore and Malaysia was one of the main issues discussed at the meeting. Citizens in the two bordering nations were forced to wear masks outdoors. However, the haze has gradually started to decrease as the Indonesian government attempted to put out the fires.

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