Environmentalists are urging Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore to take Indonesia to international court because fires raging in parts of Indonesia are blanketing much of Southeast Asia in a thick, dangerous smog, driving many residents to don masks. Hundreds of fires have been set by plantation owners and small farmers to clear land, and experts say the smog problems could continue until October. After severe air quality problems were caused by raging fires in 1997, the Indonesian government tightened laws concerning fires, but little is being done to enforce those laws.
