Indonesia plans to map forest fires in Sumatra which cause severe haze in the region so as to identify the sources and nip them in the bud, a senior adviser to President-elect Joko Widodo has said.

The plan, if implemented, will be a fillip to the region’s fight against the recurring pollution. It also marks another step by Indonesia towards that end, following the country’s ratification of a 12-year-old Asean anti-haze pact last week.

General (Ret) Luhut Pandjaitan also said Indonesia was keen to work with countries in the region to fight the security threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group. He called the group one of three immediate challenges facing Mr Joko, 53, who won the presidential election on July 9 and will be sworn in on Oct 20.

…”This is one issue he’s going to tackle in the near future… We’ll have to at least minimise it,” Gen Luhut told reporters yesterday after delivering a public lecture organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on challenges and opportunities facing the Joko government.