Malaysia takes a breather as haze crisis eases

Malaysia got a short breathing space yesterday from its worst air pollution crisis in eight years as changing winds scattered acrid smoke from forest fires burning in neighbouring Indonesia.

The skies cleared over downtown Kuala Lumpur's iconic Petronas Towers and palm trees shivered in breezes that carried away some of the haze that has shrouded the city for a week, although weather officials warned that the respite might only be brief.

"We do believe there will be a temporary relief," said Wong Teck Kiong of the Malaysian Meteorological Service.

Rain promised to bring more relief over the weekend, as the wind carried the haze away from central Malaysia towards the country's eastern states of Trengganu and Kelantan, where visibility had fallen sharply, he said.

Malaysians flocked to Friday prayers at mosques around the country to pray for a quick end to the crisis. The prime minister urged citizens of all faiths to beg for divine intervention to banish the haze that has threatened public health.

"When something like this happens, we have to ask for God's help," Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying in the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia on Friday.

Air pollution readings fell on Friday in two areas declared emergency zones on Thursday, though there were still six districts where the air was classed as hazardous.

Abdullah paved the way for the removal of emergency measures, saying they could be dropped if the pollution readings fell below the 500 level that triggered the emergency.

The haze has sent asthma attacks soaring, forced hundreds of schools to close, grounded some flights and disrupted shipping.

Mokhtar Wahab, imam at Kuala Selangor mosque, led prayers on Friday. "I urge all sections of society to control activities that can cause damage to the environment," he told them.

Sore throats and red eyes are commonplace and face masks are the capital's hottest seller. The haze has also threatened the country's tourism industry at a time when big-spending Middle East visitors usually flock to the country.

In Sumatra, a short ferry ride away from peninsular Malaysia, fires still raged, some of them deep in thick forests more than a day's journey away without helicopters, said a local police chief at Rokan Hilir, where about 2000 hectares are estimated by a forestry official to be on fire.

"We can't tackle the fire alone if we don't get any aid from other parties," Yusman, an official with the Rokan Hilir Forestry Department, told Reuters.

Malaysia plans to send 100 firefighters to Sumatra to help Indonesia douse the flames.

"Last night personnel from the forest department arrived at the location of the fire," Indonesia's national police chief, Sutanto, told reporters in Jakarta. "Yesterday we have been looking for hotspots by helicopter. We found 200 hotspots in North Sumatra (province), especially in South Tapanuli, and around 400 in Riau (province)."

Air pollution in Malaysia has yet to reach the levels of 1997, when mainly Indonesian fires blotted out skies across Southeast Asia. Singapore and many parts of peninsular Malaysia, including beach resorts, have been spared so far this time.

But the haze has also hit some key industrial sites this week, forcing Port Klang and an airport close to Kuala Lumpur to close for several hours.

Given Southeast Asia's perennial haze problem, both Indonesia and Malaysia spoke of the need for prevention and quick regional responses. Forest fires are often started in the dry season by farmers and plantation owners to expand their land holdings.

Fears of a prolonged haze season have hurt shares in Malaysia's two main airlines and main airports operator. But with the haze so far limited to a few areas, it was unlikely to have a major impact on the economy, Bernama quoted economic planning minister Mustapha Mohamed as saying.

Work on eight government construction projects in the two emergency areas has also been suspended, Bernama reported.

In these two areas, the government can order closure of state and private-sector offices, but essential services, such as markets, clinics and hospitals, will stay open. It can also limit the use of private vehicles and ban open bonfires.

- REUTERS