Urban Householders’ Assessment of the Causes, Responses, and Economic Impact of the 1998 Haze-Related Air Pollution Episode in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Introduction Haze-related air pollution episodes resulting from large-scale forest fires have occurred in the Borneo region and other parts of Southeast Asia during 1980, 1982-83, and 1994. However, the haze-related pollution episodes that occurred in 1997 and 1998 resulted in considerable impacts, due to the effects on human health, economic losses, destruction of wildlife and natural habitats, and extensive international media coverage of the events. Brunei was particularly hit by the 1998 haze-related episode, leading to closure of schools, reduced working days in both the public and private sectors, widespread increases in respiratory diseases, and considerable losses to the local tourism industry (Anaman and Ibrahim 2000; Anaman and Looi 2000). Public perceptions of the causes of the haze episodes are important because perceptions of causes are a major determinant of public response to natural hazards. This is especially crucial since the El-Nino weather phenomenon appears to be a periodically occurring phenomenon, and hence some haze-related environmental pollution would be expected every couple of years, though its severity would depend on human-induced causes such as uncontrolled burning of forests. Policymakers and the general public need enhanced information on the impacts of haze-related air pollution in order to make more informed decisions on how to deal with emergency situations similar to the 1998 haze episode. In particular, producers of information related to air pollution could benefit from feedback from users of their information such as householders, businesses, and the general public. Moreover, placing an economic value on services, such as haze-related information helps to improve the prioritization of government services, in the context of increasing government budget deficits and the need to reduce these deficits. Since 1995, the Brunei Government has incurred budget deficits every year (Government of Brunei Darussalam 2000). Currently, most government services in Brunei are supplied free of charge or at minimal cost to citizens, permanent residents and selected foreign workers and their dependants. In the area of health services, the Government has signalled its intention to increase cost-recovery, based on increasing direct user fees and charges (Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Health 2000). This move is in line with the recent policy initiatives of the Government towards privatization and corporatization of government services. With widespread increases in respiratory diseases observed during the haze-related air pollution episodes, and the relatively high incidence of respiratory diseases such as asthma in the general population, the value of information to prevent or control such diseases could be useful to policymakers for budgetary planning and management decisions. The purpose of this article is to evaluate urban householders' perceptions of the causes, and their responses to the January to April 1998 haze-related air pollution episode in Brunei. A secondary objective is to determine householders' willingness to pay (WTP) for public information concerning haze-related air pollution, and the level of their willingness to pay or contribute to a public haze fund to prevent future occurrences of very severe haze-related air pollution episodes such as that which occurred during 1998. This article is structured as follows: the next section discusses the theoretical framework, and then describes the methods and procedures used in the study. This is followed by an analysis of the results. The final section concludes. Theoretical Framework The negative effects of pollution on humans can be reduced by the provision of information on daily meteorological conditions, along with related advice on activities to the general public especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, and those with chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. …