Medan residents enjoy clear sky

MEDAN, North Sumatra: The thick haze blanketing Medan for the past four days dissipated on Thursday to the relief of local residents after rain on Wednesday night.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) reported that the visibility in the city reached seven kilometers on Thursday, much better than four days ago when the visibility was down to 300 meters.

However, BMG employee Eka said the haze was likely to return to the city if the forest fires in some parts in North Sumatra and Riau provinces were not put out as soon as possible.

The haze created by illegal fires set to clear land has also affected Malaysia. -- JP