By Liaw Wy Cin

THE haze is likely to return again in the next three months due to a combination of drier and hotter weather conditions, together with renewed burning activities in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Asean Specialised Meterological Centre said the La Nina weather phenomenon, which surfaced last August has weakened this month. La Nina results in lower temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, leading to wet weather.

Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaacob Ibrahim gave the weather forecast for the next few months at a press conference on Monday, following a meeting with fellow environment ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

They were meeting for the fifth time since setting up a task force in late 2006, to combat the almost annual haze problem which hits all five countries.

On how bad the haze will be this year, Dr Yaacob said: 'We will work very hard and hope for the best. The number of hotspots in Indonesia has come down by half. Efforts on the ground are already in place.'

Since 1997, the region has been enveloped in haze from forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra and Borneo islands. Many farmers and plantation owners in the country use the slash-and-burn technique to clear land, usually in the middle of the year, ahead of the planting season. The smoke from the fires results in the haze.

In 2006, Singapore experienced its worst haze in a decade, with the air quality in the unhealthy range.

Dr Yaacob and Indonesia's Deputy Minister for Nature and Conservation Enhancement and Environmental Degradation Control Mrs Masnellyarti Hillman said that many of the measures discussed at the half-day meeting at the Pan Pacific Hotel centred around getting the local community, including farmers and fire-fighters, involved in combating the haze.