BANGKOK - While progress has been made in tackling the haze issue, it remains a cause for concern, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan.

The number of hot spots in Indonesia has reached 17,000, up from 9,880 last year, although improved from five years ago.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) steering committee on trans-boundary haze pollution in Bangkok, Dr Balakrishnan said: "We also appealed to the Indonesian delegation to expedite the process of ratification of the ASEAN agreement because that would signify political commitment to this process."

He noted it was a "good meeting" where the ministers were "very frank with each other". "We've reviewed the progress and if you look at the situation from 2006 to now, five years later, there's actually been significant progress in the number of hots pots - at about 29,000 before, it's now down to about 17,000."

Mr Arief Yuwono, Indonesia's Deputy Minister for Environmental Degradation Control and Climate Change, said his country is stepping up law enforcement efforts and taking steps to fight fires.

However, the vastness of Indonesia's land makes it difficult to police, while setting fire to peat lands to create palm oil plantations is a lucrative practice.

At the meeting, the ministers also noted the enhanced and new efforts by Indonesia in implementing its plan of action in dealing with transboundary haze pollution.

These include developing a standard operating procedure for national prevention and control of forest and land fires, strengthened law enforcement measures, cloud seeding operations, and a "zero-burning" campaign and socialisation of laws on plantation, environment and forestry to relevant stakeholders.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "We've noted the progress there and we've also offered our support. We will be more open and transparent and we'll be sharing all the data, including satellite data not only between governments but also to make it available to non-governmental organisations and to members of the public."

"The key point here is to make the culprits and the companies responsible for haze more accountable and to subject them to economic as well as public pressure to do the right thing," he added. NEWLEY PURNELL