Haze thickens as Malaysia seeks international help<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia's haze crisis worsened
\nyesterday as the country sought help from France and Japan to
\ntackle the choking pollution.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia would send
\nfirefighters to Indonesia to help put out forest fires that have
\nsent a blanket of haze across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
In Singapore, environmental experts said yesterday that public
\nprotests could intensify as tempers become more frayed over smog
\nfrom uncontrolled Indonesian forest fires choking people in
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
About 60 Malaysian activists staged a rare hour-long
\ndemonstration Sunday to demand immediate and serious action from
\nMalaysian and Indonesian authorities to combat the smog.<\/p>\n
Mahathir urged the public to wear masks for protection and
\nappealed to them to share cars and use public transport to cut
\ndown vehicle emissions.<\/p>\n
French experts who have studied the haze returned to Paris on
\nSunday to arrange a environmental operation, he said.<\/p>\n
Assistance was also requested from Japan who had offered \"jet-
\nshooters\" to help put out fires in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We realize this problem cannot be overcome easily but we are
\ntrying our best,\" Mahathir was reported saying by Bernama news
\nagency after meeting officials to assess the situation.<\/p>\n
The meeting also agreed that it would close all nurseries if
\nthe Air Pollution Index crosses the 300 points hazardous level
\nand all schools if the index breaches 400, he said.<\/p>\n
On top of sending a firefighting team to Indonesia, it would
\nuse the airport in Kuching, capital of the eastern state of
\nSarawak, as a base for cloud seeding.<\/p>\n
Emergency<\/p>\n
The state of \"haze emergency\" in Sarawak would remain in force
\nas air pollution again breached emergency levels early yesterday.<\/p>\n
The pollution index in Sarawak on Borneo island surged to 569
\nafter slipping to 366 Sunday. Visibility in Kuching dipped to
\nabout 300 meters.<\/p>\n
Kuching airport was again closed barely 24 hours after it
\nreopened early Sunday, leaving many passengers and tourists
\nstranded.<\/p>\n
Schools in the state remained closed but food outlets,
\nmarkets, clinics and essential services were opened.<\/p>\n
In Kuala Lumpur, the index rose from 108 Sunday to a \"very
\nunhealthy\" 288 yesterday, the department of environment said.<\/p>\n
The index was at 301 in the industrial area of Gombak and 230
\nin Petaling Jaya, and 306 in Nilai in southwestern state of
\nNegeri Sembilan.<\/p>\n
An environment department spokesman said the wind direction
\nhas reverted from southeast to southwest after a temporary shift
\nSaturday which brought some blue skies and sunshine.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, officials in Manila said yesterday that the smoke
\nfrom Indonesia's forest fires has also blown across large areas
\nof the southern Philippines, forcing flight cancellations.<\/p>\n
Weather forecasters said the smoke has combined with moisture
\nto form the haze covering many areas of southern Mindanao and the
\nwestern island province of Palawan.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's opposition leader MP Lim Kit Siang called for a
\ndaily meeting of Southeast Asian environment ministers to step up
\nregional efforts to fight the haze.<\/p>\n
Lim also urged Indonesia to \"internationalize the disaster of
\nthe raging thousands of forest fires\" by establishing a team of
\nexperts from other countries to take over full responsibility for
\nputting out the fires.<\/p>",
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