Jakarta Denies Haze In Malaysia Due To Forest Fires In Its Territories

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Last Friday, Putrajaya warned of high pollution levels on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak due to transboundary haze from Indonesia. (Bernama pic)JAKARTA: Indonesia’s environment ministry has denied accusations that forest fires in Sumatra and its portion of Borneo island, which have blanketed some of its cities with thick haze, have also affected air quality in neighbouring Malaysia.
Malaysia on Friday warned residents of high pollution levels in most areas on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the western Borneo region of Sarawak, blaming transboundary haze from Indonesia, its environment department said in a statement.
Indonesia’s environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar responded by saying Jakarta did not detect any travelling haze from Indonesia to neighbouring countries.
“We continue to follow up on any development and there is no transboundary haze to Malaysia,” she said in a statement.
At the moment, Indonesia is focusing on quelling forest fires in some provinces in Sumatra and Borneo with water bombing from helicopters, the minister added.
As well as maritime boundaries, Malaysia shares a land border with Indonesia on Borneo island.
A spokesman for Indonesia’s foreign ministry said Malaysia has not filed a diplomatic complaint over the haze.
Indonesia’s dry season this year is the most severe since 2019 due to the impact of the El Nino weather pattern.
While forest fires are typically started by farmers to clear land for plantations, authorities say putting out fires this year has been harder due to El Nino.
More than 267,900ha of forests have been burnt so far this year, bigger than the total of 204,894ha throughout 2022, according to data from Indonesia’s environment ministry.
This has brought haze into several cities in Sumatra and Borneo.
Some areas in central Kalimantan, Borneo, reported visibility of less than 10m, state news agency Antara reported.
Authorities ordered remote learning for students in Palembang and Jambi cities in southern Sumatra starting this week due to the severity of pollution, local media reported. - FMT

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