Indonesian haze chokes Southeast Asia

TOXIC haze from Indonesian forest fires closed schools and airports across the country and in neighboring Malaysia yesterday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city’s Formula One motor race.

Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle them.

Indonesian blazes belch smog across Southeast Asia annually, but this year’s are the worst since 2015 and have added to concerns about wildfire outbreaks worldwide exacerbating global warming.

Yesterday, air quality deteriorated to “very unhealthy” levels on an official index in many parts of peninsular Malaysia, with the skyline of the capital Kuala Lumpur shrouded by dense smog.

Nearly 1,500 schools were closed across Malaysia due to the air pollution, with over 1 million pupils affected, according to the education ministry.

A growing number of Malaysians were suffering health problems due to the haze, with authorities saying there had been a sharp increase in outpatients at government hospitals — many suffering dry and itchy eyes.

Indonesian authorities said hundreds of schools in hard-hit Riau province on Sumatra were shut, without providing a precise number, while about 1,300 were closed in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo.

Borneo is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Poor visibility closed seven airports in the Indonesian part of Borneo, the transport ministry in Jakarta said.

Scores of flights have already been diverted and canceled in the region in recent days due to the smog.

Air quality in Singapore worsened to unhealthy levels and a white smog obscured the striking waterfront skyline.

The worsening pollution increased fears that this weekend’s Formula One race may be affected.

(AFP)