Malaysia seeds clouds to bring relief as haze from Indonesian forest fires chokes Southeast Asia
- Malaysia closed more than 1,000 schools nationwide on Wednesday and air quality worsened in Singapore days before the city’s Formula One race
- Deteriorating air quality also resulted in delay at corruption trial of Najib Razak after lawyers said he needed treatment for symptoms of conjunctivitis
.png?itok=arIb17P0)
Malaysia on Wednesday dispatched aircraft to disperse chemicals over the country to clear the smoky air, as toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires shut thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia , while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city state’s Formula One 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. Borneo island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
Malaysia hopes that cloud seeding, releasing chemicals such as sodium chloride and magnesium oxide into the air from aircraft, can encourage water droplets to form and rain to fall.
Jailan Simon, the director general of Malaysia’s Meteorological Department, said rain will help clear the air, but any relief will only be temporary if more smoke rolls in from Indonesian fires.
The haze is back. Can Malaysia and Indonesia clear the air?
“You can reduce the severity of the haze, but cloud seeding doesn’t help if there is still burning happening at the source and the wind is blowing the haze towards us,” Jailan said.
There are no guarantees seeding will work.
“You need to have the right kind of clouds, the right amount of moisture in the atmosphere and the right wind conditions,” Jailan said.
Nearly 1,500 schools were closed across Malaysia due to the air pollution, with over one million pupils affected, according to the education ministry.
The two worst-affected states were Selangor, outside Kuala Lumpur, where 538 schools were closed, and Sarawak on Borneo, with 337 closures. Hundreds of schools in several other states in peninsular Malaysia were also affected.
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.
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.
“He is getting watery eyes and nose,” his lead counsel said. “His idea [of having the appointment for medical treatment] is to prevent it from becoming full-blown.”
The trial was first adjourned on September 11 to September 17 due to Najib’s conjunctivitis, which also afflicted his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Air quality in Singapore worsened to unhealthy levels and a white smog obscured the striking waterfront skyline, featuring the Marina Bay Sands casino resort with its three towers and boat-shaped top level.
The worsening pollution increased fears that this weekend’s Formula One race may be affected. Organisers say the possibility of haze is one of the issues in their contingency plan for Sunday’s showpiece night race, but have not given further details.
The city state’s tourism board said spectators would be able to buy masks as protection from the haze if conditions did not improve.
Assistance would also be provided on-site for spectators who feel unwell, Jean Ng, the board’s executive director of sports, told Today Online.
“Various Singapore government agencies have been working closely with (the) race organiser ... to ensure the delivery of the best race and entertainment experience possible while keeping a watchful eye on the health and well-being of everyone involved,” she said.
Singapore haze reaches worst level in three years as Indonesian fires rage
Southeast Asia has suffered for years from dry-season bouts of smoke caused by fires, many in Indonesia, set to clear land, raising concerns about health and the impact on tourism.
The smoke, or haze as it is known, has been particularly bad over recent weeks leading to accusations and angry responses among the neighbours.
Indonesia’s Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar last week said some of the fires in her country had been spotted on palm oil plantations operated by at least four subsidiaries of Malaysian companies.
Teresa Kok, Malaysia’s minister in charge of palm oil, said last week any report of fires on land controlled by Malaysian companies was a “serious accusation”.
The Indonesian government has insisted it is doing all it can to fight the fires, with President Joko Widodo saying during a visit to a hard-hit area on Sumatra on Tuesday that “we have made every effort”.
But this year’s fires have been worsened by dry weather and experts believe there is little chance of them being extinguished until the onset of the rainy season in October.
Indonesia’s meteorology, climate and geophysics agency said Wednesday that over 1,000 hotspots – areas of intense heat detected by satellite that indicate a likely fire – had been sighted, most of them on Sumatra.
The smog is also affecting endangered orangutans on Borneo, with dozens of the young apes at rescue centres contracting respiratory infections, according to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
Additional reporting by The Star Online and Reuters
