KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysia is all ready to help Indonesia put out its raging fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra in order to ease the severe haze in the region, said Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.

Smog regularly blankets parts of South-east Asia during the dry season when burning is used to clear Indonesian land for palm oil, paper plantations and other crops, sparking ire from regional neighbours.

In the latest outbreak, parts of Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak on Borneo island have been blanketed over the past few days.

“The urgency now is for Indonesia to extinguish the fires and the government is ready to offer any kinds of assistance to help Indonesia in both Kalimantan and Sumatra,” she said in a Facebook post on Monday (Sept 9), adding that Malaysia will exhaust all diplomatic channels to get Indonesia to act.

“We will be sending diplomatic notes to Indonesia to underscore the seriousness of haze, as well as to emphasise the urgency in putting out the fires,” Ms Yeo said.

She said her ministry is working with the Foreign Ministry on the matter following a scheduled meeting between the Malaysian ambassador and his counterpart on Monday.

Ms Yeo said the National Disaster Management Agency is coordinating with the Meteorological Services Department (MetMalaysia) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force to conduct cloud-seeding in hard-hit areas with sufficient clouds.

MetMalaysia director-general Jailan Simon said the haze situation in Sarawak has been easing, except in Kuching, Sri Aman and Samarahan.

He said the improvement in the central and northern regions of Sarawak was due to early morning showers, which also helped reduce the number of hotspots in southern Kalimantan.

“The haze in the western part of Sarawak is expected to continue as long as the fires in Kalimantan are ongoing,” he said.

He also said moderate haze is expected to continue, particularly in the central west coast following the increase of hotspots in central Sumatra and the westerly monsoon blowing from that direction.

Some 194 hotspots were detected in southern Kalimantan, compared to 446 before, but there has been an increase in the hotspots in Sumatra, from 52 to 206 currently.

National news agency Bernama reported that the earliest possible date for cloud seeding in Sarawak is on Thursday, with Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas quoted as saying it mainly depends on the weather.

“Looking at the wind direction and the forecast, Thursday is the earliest. It depends whether clouds cover the affected areas,” he said.

Datuk Uggah Embas also said Sarawak had appealed to the federal government to discuss with Indonesia on ways to reduce the hotspots.

Schools in Sarawak with air pollutant index (API) levels exceeding 200 – the very unhealthy range – were directed to close immediately.

However, the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination will proceed in Sarawak as scheduled on Tuesday, unless the air pollutant index (API) goes above 300.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good; 51 to 100 moderate; 101 to 200 unhealthy; 201 to 300 very unhealthy; and 301 and above is deemed hazardous.

State education director Dr Azhar Ahmad said the department had distributed 69,000 face masks to 713 schools in Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei and Mukah.

“We focus on UPSR candidates in areas where the API is close to or above 200. Students will still sit for examinations as long as the API does not exceed 300. Beyond that, the Education Ministry will decide, ” he said.

Bernama also reported that all mosques across the country have been called to hold solat istisqa (prayers for rain) to ease the haze.

Director-general of Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Mohamad Nordin Ibrahim said Jakim is asking for help from all quarters.

“Jakim is seeking cooperation from all state Islamic religious departments to ask all mosques under their purview to hold solat istisqa, ” he said in a statement on Monday.

Datuk Mohamad Nordin said three mosques under Jakim, namely the National Mosque, Putra Mosque and the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya, will be taking part in the move, which was recommended by the National Disaster Management Agency.

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