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Indonesia is preparing well to tackle haze with the help of technology, the country's Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said during a media doorstop at Ecosperity Week 2023 on Tuesday (Jun. 6).

Lahut was responding to questions from the press regarding concerns about the return of transboundary haze in 2023.

On May. 30, Singapore's National Environment Agency put out an advisory noting an increased risk of haze due to the likely return of drier and warmer climate patterns this year. This pattern is known meteorologically as El Ninõ.

Climate modification technology utilised: Minister

In his response, Lahut said that haze was "not an issue anymore", adding that he was "in charge" during the 2016 haze event.

"Since then, [the haze problem] declined very much," Lahut commented.

"Today, we are preparing very well. We have climate modification technology," the Indonesian minister added.

Describing the technology, Lahut suggested that it can be used to seed rain and therefore, create a "pond".

This will then provide sufficient water supplies "to stop a fire".

"So, we are very advanced on that technology today," the minister said.

Between the 1970s to 2010s, haze caused by agricultural fires started by farmers in Sumatra and Kalimantan regularly plagued Singapore.

In 2016, PSI levels reached as high as 215 in Singapore.

Top image via MIT News