Malaysia to help Indonesia battle choking fires
Malaysia to help Indonesia battle choking fires
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysia pledged yesterday to send up
to 400 firefighters to battle blazes in Indonesia which have
shrouded much of Southeast Asia in thick, choking smog.
Two hundred firefighters would be sent to Kalimantan on the
Indonesian half of Borneo island as soon as officials in Jakarta
agree to a timetable, Malaysian Information Minister Mohamed
Rahmat told a news conference.
Indonesia was expected to provide the information quickly,
possibly this weekend, he added.
Another 200 firefighters would also be sent to the western
island of Sumatra at a later date, Mohamed said.
Malaysia has also pledged to help Indonesia seed clouds over
Kalimantan in a bid to cut the choking pollution with artificial
rain.
The pollution, which has covered Malaysia, Singapore and
Brunei for weeks, is caused largely by thousands of brush and
forest fires in Indonesia, particularly on Sumatra and
Kalimantan.
Malaysia on Friday declared a state of emergency in Sarawak
state on its half of Borneo as the smog from Indonesian fires
reached dangerous levels.
The normally bustling state capital of Kuching quickly turned
into a ghost town as schools, businesses and offices were shut.
Doctors and nurses in the town worked late into Friday night
treating residents with coughs and sore throats and eyes,
witnesses said.
"Certainly the figures have doubled" since Thursday, said one
doctor at a private clinic.
Witnesses said Kuching pharmacies were doing brisk business
again on yesterday as long lines formed to buy face masks, but
they said clinics did not appear as busy.
Kuching streets remained largely deserted but some customers
returned to shops and restaurants.
The Department of the Environment said visibility was still
only about 100 metres (yards), but added air quality had slightly
improved.
Officials said the Air Pollutant Index (API) in Kuching
measured 446 at 0900 GMT, still hazardous but down from Friday's
high of 655.
Breathing air which measures even 200 to 300 API for one day
would be like smoking 20 cigarettes, one senior environment
official said on Friday.
State officials said more people were falling ill from smog-
related ailments.
The Sarawak Medical Department said an average of 563 people
per day had sought help for haze-related illnesses between Aug. 5
and Sept. 18.
A 71-year-old chief of a native village said it was the worst
pollution he had ever seen.
But he said his villagers had stopped slash-and-burn clearing
of fields "weeks ago", and were not to blame.
In Kuala Lumpur, several multinational companies and foreign
missions have asked their expatriate employees, whose families
have already left Malaysia due to the haze, to take extended
leave.
The local affiliate of Ericsson Telecommunications said at
least 12 dependants of its employees had returned to Sweden or
left for other destinations, strictly on doctor's advice due to
asthmatic or respiratory problems.
A local newspaper reported that expatriate employees of a
major U.S. electronics company have been forced to take annual
holidays in advance and to leave the country because of the smog.
It did not name the company.
The API reading in Kuala Lumpur fell to 156 late on Saturday
afternoon from 292 on Friday.
Information Minister Mohamed said the government had
identified 18 local companies which are directly involved in land
clearing activities in Indonesia to make room for oil palm
plantations.
"They know who they are and we want them to come forward. They
should co-operate and go over there to help put out the fires,"
Mohamed said.
Indonesian President Soeharto apologized to neighboring
countries on Tuesday for the suffocating pollution and said his
country was doing its best to put the fires out.