Haze eases slightly in Malaysia
(Kyodo) _ The haze crisis in Malaysia appeared to have eased Friday, a day after the government declared a state of emergency and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called on the nation to pray for divine help.
The country has been experiencing its worst air pollution in eight years since last week's forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra and Riau provinces blew thick, noxious smog across the Malacca Strait.
As the situation turned dangerous, the government on Thursday imposed emergency rule in two of the worst-hit regions -- Port Klang, the country's biggest port city, some 50 kilometers northwest of Kuala Lumpur, and its neighboring fishing village, Kuala Selangor, renowned for its seafood and unique firefly colony that is a tourist attraction.
The state of emergency forced the closure of schools and many offices.
Abdullah on Thursday urged people of all faiths to pray for rain.
"This has been my approach. When faced with such a situation, we must also pray to God to seek divine help," he said and thousands of Muslims trooped into mosques for their Friday prayer with a special call for God's help to end the dry spell.
Parts of central Malaysia did experience a light drizzle overnight Thursday and coupled with stronger wind on Friday, the haze appeared to have lifted a bit.
"We have stronger wind compared to yesterday, about 30 to 40 kilometers per hour. That's why the haze situation in Klang Valley has improved but the forest fires are still there in Indonesia," a meteorological department official said.
In Port Klang, the air pollution index has dropped from its emergency-trigger point of above 500 to 198 as of 3 p.m. local time. In Kuala Selangor, the API was 298, considered very unhealthy but better than the 529 recorded on Thursday.
Although Port Klang is supposed to be still under a state of emergency, the streets were bustling with activity. Shops, banks and outdoor eateries were open for business as usual.
"The haze has improved so why not. Business was bad yesterday because of the haze," a jewelry trader who only wanted to be known as Pillai said.
The city's two main ports, Westport and Northport, have resumed operations after being forced to suspend work Thursday due to poor visibility.
The meteorological department said visibility was still less than 1 kilometer in the Malacca Strait and warned ships to be cautious.
Elsewhere, the areas that remained hazardous were Kuala Lumpur, which recorded 326 in the air pollution index, and Shah Alam, 309. In the suburbs around the capital, air quality remained in a range considered very unhealthy.
Under the air pollutant index, a reading of 0 to 50 is classified as good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and above 300 hazardous.
Meanwhile, Malaysians and the local media took Indonesia to task over the haze crisis.
"Malaysia, ASEAN and the international community must be firm and tell Indonesia that what is happening is unacceptable. Apologizing for the haze is not good enough. Nobody is picking a quarrel or fight with Jakarta but it is its responsibility to ensure that whatever happens in Indonesia does not cause injury to its neighbors," The Star daily said.
The New Straits Times warned that "there is a limit" to Malaysia's patience.
"The 1997 fires along caused some $4.5 billion in losses to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia is estimated to have lost some $300 million in the industrial and tourism sectors alone. But yet, we did not protest. We remained tolerant and acted in the spirit of good neighborliness....How long are Malaysians going to suffer in silence?" the paper said.
The opposition Democratic Action Party led a small demonstration in front of the Indonesian Embassy on Friday demanding compensation, for "forcing us to breathe poisonous air," party secretary general Lim Guan Eng said.
"While the Malaysian government has not demanded compensation out of the need to preserve good neighborly relations, we believe that the majority of 25 million Malaysians are angry that all the rhetoric in preventing the recurrence of haze, including the setting of an ASEAN inter-regional committee on haze, are just hot air," Lim said.
Indonesian Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban hit back, saying 10 Malaysian-owned companies operating in Sumatra were among the culprits that caused the fire.
According to The Star, there are some 24 Malaysian plantation companies operating in Sumatra, mainly growing oil palm.
Abdullah has already dispatched Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin to Jakarta to meet with the plantation owners to order them to stop their slash-and-burn practices that aggravated the haze situation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said Malaysia is ready to send 125 firefighters and five fire engines to Sumatra where over 500 hotspots were detected.
They are now waiting for the green-light from Jakarta. The government has also started cloud-seeding operations that it hopes will induce rain.
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