Indonesia has come under growing pressure from its neighbours in recent weeks as thick smoke from fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan has sent pollution levels soaring in Malaysia and Singapore, where schools have been closed and major outdoor events cancelled.
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In a Twitter message posted at 9.37am today, Najib said that he arrived at Kuala Lumpur worldwide Airport (KLIA).
The minister said that the ministry would continuously take measure to minimize the risk of haze on human health.
Malaysia’s education minister Mahdzir Khalid ordered his country’s schools to close for two days on Sunday, saying the haze is beyond Malaysia’s control.
The SSC said this on Friday after it had to cancel one of the finals of the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup Singapore 2015 which was scheduled for 6pm on Saturday.
Presidential spokesman Ari Dwipayana told AFP that companies found to be responsible for lighting fires could have their business permits revoked, but added: “All this takes time”.
Malaysia said it was preparing to conduct cloud-seeding operations to reduce the haze as schools were closed in several states and a few flights were disrupted due to poor visibility.
The air pollutant index hit the hazardous level in Shah Alam, the capital of Malaysia’s central Selangor state, and was very unhealthy in many other areas.
The forest fires that cause the haze have been an annual occurrence since the late 1990s.
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.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department is prepared to assist Indonesia in putting out forest fires in that country, which has been the main cause for the cross-border haze.
The government in Indonesia says more than 20,000 people, including soldiers from the army, are trying to put out the flames.
Indonesia is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly from deforestation.
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The current haze in parts of Southeast Asia is probably already worse than the haze that covered parts of the region in 1997.
