Indonesia burnoffs cause anger

Malaysia wants neighbouring Indonesia to crack down on farmers whose land-clearing fires send thick smoke over the countryside, threatening health and fouling the skies of tourism resorts.

This week's haze is among the worst since 1997-98, when bushfires in Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan provinces burned out of control for weeks, destroying 10 million hectares and blanketing Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia with thick smoke.

Malaysia's Deputy Environment Minister, S. Sothinathan, said his country might call for a meeting of Southeast Asian nations if the problem worsened.