Borneo strives to get rid of haze

Borneo strives to get rid of haze

Associate Press
Kuala Lumpur

Authorities in Sarawak on Borneo have ordered one million
pollution filtering masks and are taking measures to encourage
rainfall in efforts to reduce the effects of haze triggered by
fires in neighboring Indonesia, a news report said Wednesday.

Air quality in Seri Aman district in Sarawak state has been
rated "unhealthy" because of wildfires in Indonesia's Kalimantan
island, The Star cited Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister George Tan
as saying.

"The smoke carried by the wind from Kalimantan is turning in
to our direction and is hitting us," Tan told the daily. "One
million masks are now on standby and ready for distribution
throughout the state."

Tan said the hazy conditions have been aggravated by a lack of
rain. He said his government was preparing to launch cloud
seeding operations, in which chemicals are fired into clouds to
induce downpours.

Environment officials said the overall air quality in Sarawak
state on Borneo and in the rest of Malaysia was moderate although
visibility in some areas was bad.

Tan was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

In June, smoke from wildfires in Indonesia drifted across
Malaysia, shrouding Kuala Lumpur and the northern island resort
of Penang in thick haze.

Farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia who set illegal fires are
blamed for the haze that envelops parts of Southeast Asia every
dry season.