Indonesia vowed to take action against plantation firms accused of starting forest fires that have choked neighbouring countries in thick haze, the government said Sunday. "Indonesia is determined to end forest fires and take strong action against foreign companies involved," a government website quoted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as saying. Environmental group Greenpeace said that the fires occurred on palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies. Haze from the forest fires on Sumatra island has cloaked much of Indonesia's Riau province, Malaysia and Singapore, sending pollution indexes to hazardous levels, DPA reported. The state Antara news agency quoted a local health official as saying that nearly 20,000 people in Riau, many of them children, have suffered upper respiratory problems because of the smog. Three helicopters, three airplanes and 500 people have been deployed in Riau to try to extinguish the fires, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said.
