Will coronavirus fan the flames of south-east Asia's haze problem?

An August 22, 2019 file picture showing Indonesian firefighters battling a forest fire in Ogan Ilir, south Sumatra. - AFP

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Weak enforcement of restrictions to curb Covid-19 infections in rural Indonesia, coupled with farmers opting for cheap ways to clear land, could see a repeat of the forest fires and smoke that choked south-east Asia last year, environmentalists said.

The annual haze season, from around June until October, caused airports and schools to close in 2019. The burning of an estimated 16,000 sq km of land cost Indonesia US$5.2bil (RM22.87bil) in economic losses, according to the World Bank.