VNAgency.com - The high-profile disasters of 2005, including the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian earthquake, are still fresh in many people's minds, but it is wrong to believe that 2006 has been free of major disasters.

The haze is back in Southeast Asia.

Smoke haze from fires centred on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra has once again started to spread across the region, prompting Indonesia to declare a state of emergency in the worst hit areas.

Visibility along the narrow Malacca Strait, which links Asia to the Middle East and Europe, has been sharply reduced and smoke from the raging forest fires has shown no signs of abating.

The fires are a regular occurrence during the dry season but appear to have worsened this year, with larger fires on highly flammable peat land. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that the fires coincide with a hot spell ahead of the start of rains due later this month.

Scientists fear that unusual weather patterns, such as a prolonged drought induced by El Nino , could turn the current situation into an environmental catastrophe.

The smoke haze has delayed commercial flights and caused a spike in respiratory problems in Indonesia and Malaysia, while also spreading to other countries such as Singapore, where the haze shrouds famous landmarks.

The tiny island nation of Singapore remained hazy on Wednesday, but air quality in Malaysia improved, helped by rain and changing winds.

Last Saturday, Singapore's environmental agency issued a health advisory on the fog-like haze, while earlier this week Malaysia issued a hazard warning for ships travelling through the Malacca Strait after haze caused visibility to drop along the vital waterway.

Malaysia fears the haze could hit tourism and businesses hard if fires are not stamped out soon. Hundreds of schools in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding districts were ordered to close until Monday because of the worsening haze, which is causing a spike in asthma attacks and respiratory conditions.

The dry season haze is a perennial problem for the region, caused largely by slash-and-burn fires in Indonesia.

Indonesia insisted that its efforts to subdue the land-clearing fires have been partially successful, even though conditions remained poor in some areas.

The worst case occurred during late 1997 and early '98, when smoke from land-clearing in Indonesia's Sumatra province blanketed much of the region and was blamed for losses of billions of dollars for tourism, health and for other business sectors.

During the past ten years, it has turned into an almost perennial problem. So what can be done to put an end to it?

The haze menace is a multi-faceted issue that calls for careful consideration from several perspectives.

Pressure on Indonesia to take action on the smoke haze blighting neighbouring countries has increased after Singapore invited regional ministers to discuss urgent measures to tackle the problem while people in fire-hit areas continued to pray for rain.

The meeting would discuss urgent and long -term measures to tackle the smoke haze problem, Singapore's environment ministry said.

"Its objective is to muster ASEAN's resources to help Indonesia cope with the present haze problem," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.

The meeting, set for today, could also help in preparing for an international summit which Indonesia could convene, to marshal expertise and resources needed to help Indonesia and ASEAN tackle the haze problem effectively, the foreign ministry said.

Nothing good can come of natural disasters. They happen suddenly, exact a terrible toll and leave a heavy burden in their aftermath, especially in a poor country ill-equipped to deal with the resulting devastation.

A haze agreement was signed in 2002 and came into force the following year. All ASEAN members have ratified the deal, but Indonesia has yet to sign the pact.

As long as there are gains to be realised from co-operation – with the haze-affected neighbours avoiding larger losses, and those where forest burning occurs receiving financial and non-financial assistance to combat fires – the results could be a win-win situation.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Jajib Tun Razak said ASEAN countries must take concerted action to set up a sizeable fund to tackle the problem of fires aimed at land-clearing.

The deputy prime minister said that the haze problem would persist unless they, together with their ASEAN neighbour, Indonesia, were prepared to provide the funds to enhance capacity to put out the fires.

"The haze will occur again during the dry season. It cannot be resolved by one government alone," he said.

The forest fires will return. Therefore, there must be forward planning to manage fires and smoke haze. International efforts, and more importantly national resources, should be optimised and strategies are needed to develop long-term and comprehensive solutions.