Action against wildfires stymied

Legal means among options, but business links in Southeast Asia add to the haze

It is too early to say what economic and health impacts this year's fires in Indonesia will have, but if previous years are anything to go by, the costs will be high.

It could take months to make an accurate assessment, said Helena Varkkey, senior lecturer for the Department of International and Strategic Studies at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.