Malaysia’s air quality in six districts around Kuala Lumpur remains at “very unhealthy level” because of haze from Indonesian forest fires, according to pollution readings from the Department of Environment.
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Close to half of Malaysia’s 52 pollutant monitoring stations around the country registered “unhealthy” air quality today.
– Worsening smog in Singapore prompted swimming World Cup organizers to cancel 15 finals just an hour before the session was to start.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has urged Indonesia to take action, saying only Jakarta has the authority to investigate the cause of the fires and convict those responsible.
“The haze that is happening is beyond our control”, said Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid.
So there is frustratingly little that Malaysia and Singapore can do to change this large-scale haze problem, which is nearly entirely generated by Indonesia.
Companies seeking to clear land for palm oil and pulp wood plantations have been accused of encouraging the fires that often smoulder for weeks in underground peat deposits.
Experts warned last week this year’s flare-up was on track to equal or surpass an infamous 1997 haze outbreak that sent pollution soaring to record highs and caused an estimated $9 billion in economic damage.
“If the forecasts for a longer dry season hold, this suggests 2015 will rank among the most severe events on record”, said Robert Field, a Columbia University scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
The government in Indonesia says more than 20,000 people, including soldiers from the army, are trying to put out the flames.
The problem has been exacerbated this year by the El Nino weather phenomenon which has brought unusually dry conditions.
“We suspect that this haze is from Sumatra”.
The haze, caused by the open burning of areas for agricultural purposes in neighboring Indonesia, has blanketed around 12 of Malaysia’s 13 states and three federal territories over the past three weeks.
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Indonesia is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly from deforestation.
