Sumatra haze blankets northern Malaysia

Sumatra haze blankets northern Malaysia

Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Haze from forest fires in neighboring Indonesia blanketed the
northern parts of peninsular Malaysia, reducing visibility to as
low as three km (two miles), a newspaper and residents said on
Saturday.

Smoke from forest fires in Sumatra, just across the Straits of
Malacca, was expected to affect the states of Penang, Perak and
Kedah in the next few days, the Sun reported, adding that the
government had urged people to wear masks when necessary.

Penang, where visibility has fallen to three km from the
normal 10 km, is the worst affected as southwest wind from the
large Indonesian island of Sumatra blows the haze to the
peninsula, the paper said.

"The northern states could experience hazy conditions for a
few days, depending on the wind direction," Shamsudin Abdul
Latif, deputy director-general of the environment ministry, was
quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"We detected more than 500 hot spots in northern Indonesia,
and more than 900 spots in Kalimantan yesterday," said Shamsudin,
referring to Sumatra and the Indonesian side of Borneo island.

Bouts of haze from forest fires, mainly coming from
Indonesia's Kalimantan province on Borneo, have been a problem
for six weeks, periodically affecting other parts of Southeast
Asia. The fires, triggered by both land clearing and slash and
burn farmers, create health and environmental problems every
year.

In August, choking haze from Sumatra shrouded some states in
the western parts of the peninsula and badly affected visibility
in capital Kuala Lumpur.

"Penang is still hazy this morning even though it has rained.
But I guess the situation is not as bad as early last year when
haze from Sumatra also hit this area," a tin trader in Penang
said by telephone.

Earlier this year Malaysia banned open burning, even
barbecues, with exceptions made for cremations and destroying
animal carcasses, following a spate of forest and scrub fires
around the country and in Indonesia.

Thick haze from major fires on Borneo and Sumatra in 1997 and
1998 spread to Singapore and Malaysia and cost regional economies
$9 billion in damage to farming, transport and tourism.

Conservationists have long criticized Jakarta for failing to
protect its natural resources. Indonesia admits its laws are too
weak to deal with the problem and is promising reform.