JUN 08, 2002

FINE those who feed them, hold a nationwide campaign against them, send out pamphlets to educate people about them and fasten rubbish bins down firmly to stop them from toppling the bins over.

These ideas poured in from Singaporeans eager to get rid of those pesky black birds - crows.

One of the most popular suggestions was to starve them - cut off their food supply and keep the numbers down, said half of the people who responded to the Singapore Science Centre's nationwide crow census.

Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim, in an interview with The Straits Times, said that on a scale of one to 10, Indonesia rates a '4' when it comes to its ability to deal with the fires and prevent noxious haze from enveloping the region. The problem, he said, required time and resources: 'If this year we earn a six rating - a point where our people know the problems caused by fires and don't start them haphazardly - then we would have done an excellent job.

'But at this time, controlling these fires still pose a big challenge for us.

'We know we have to stop fires, not just to stop haze from spreading to Malaysia or Singapore, but also because 20 million of our people live in thick smoke when these fires happen.'

Mr Nabiel acknowledged that the country's weak judiciary and law-enforcement system contributed to Indonesia's inability to control fires.

The authorities do not enforce anti-burning laws, and few fire starters have been caught, tried and jailed properly.

Although judges and prosecutors here have received additional training in environmental laws since at least 1989, many still have poor understanding of the issue.

His comments come in the wake of reports that choking haze has blanketed cities in Kalimantan and Sumatra, posing a health hazard to millions of Indonesians, and disrupting air and land transportation routes.

On Thursday, West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin declared a top alert and ordered local agencies to step up efforts to extinguish all for est and ground blazes.

Indonesia's farmers and plantation owners still rely on fire as a means to clear land, although the government banned the practice in 1999.

The action by farmers, coupled with the current harsh dry season, which experts associate with the El Nino phenomenon, has caused at least 31 separate hot spots in West Kalimantan alone.

Courts in Indonesia are currently processing the cases of five plantation owners charged with using fire to clear their lands last year. But the number of offenders is clearly much larger.

Mr Nabiel said that while Indonesia had 'enough regulations, enforcing them is the problem'.

'How can we prosecute offenders if the system of prosecution is broken down and its personnel are not equipped to really do the job?' he added.

Another complication to fire-fighting efforts stems from the decentralisation process, which last year gave local governments more economic and political powers, including over the enforcement of environmental standards on everyday practices.

'We have to coordinate with local governments, which means talking to a large number of officials who may have different levels of understanding on environmental issues, and, therefore, different priorities,' Mr Nabiel said.

'Allocating money to different regions requires more accountability procedures. Jakarta also has to devote more people and money to making sure local administrations take no decision that is contrary to the overall environmental programme.'

Many of the 150 people who sent suggestions to the centre's website said that shooting and poisoning, which is what the authorities have been doing, only ruffle the birds' feathers.

But more than half still felt that efforts to kill crows should continue.

The centre wanted Singaporeans' help to count the number of crows here, and also asked for ideas to trim its population.

One of those who had a suggestion was Joel Seah, 14, who suggested that rubbish bins be fastened firmly to the ground.

He said: 'The crows sometimes topple over the rubbish bins in parks in search of food. So, bins should be fastened firmly to the ground and closed, so crows are not allowed to enter. The rubbish bins should be cleared once they are full.'

Others had noticed people throwing food from their kitchen windows, and suggested that the Housing Board or Town Councils send out pamphlets or put up posters to warn people against doing so.

As for the crow census on Sunday, Singaporeans were asked to step outside and count the number of crows within 50 m of where they were standing for five minutes at 9 am and 11 am.

By 5 pm yesterday, about 150 people had submitted their findings to the centre's website.

People have until June 16 to send the numbers in. So far, more than 6,200 crows have been counted. But the Science Centre stressed that this figure is not the total number of crows in Singapore.

The final figure will come only after all the data collected is analysed.

An earlier research project by the National University of Singapore estimates that there are 120,000 crows here. The Government is hoping to cut this down to 10,000 by 2011.

The committee that organised the crow count will meet next week to study the data collected.

Copyright © 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.