INDONESIA LAWMAKER APOLOGISES TO MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE FOR SMOKE PROBLEM

A member of the Indonesian House of Representatives yesterday apologised to Malaysia and Singapore over the haze problem which has affected the two countries.

Hamdhani Mukhdar Said, a member of the National Democratic Party for the Kalimantan Tengah constituency, said the Indonesian government was taking measures prevent the fires in several districts in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"We apologise to the governments of Malaysia and Singapore on the matter. The Indonesian government has done its level best to combat the problem, in fact our president (Joko Widodo) has also visited the locations," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 36th Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in Kuala Lumpur today.

• He said Indonesia was experiencing a dry season which caused the forest fires.
• "Some communities are opening farms, but if they started the fires, we will punish them.
• "But in some areas, the fires started by themselves due to the extreme hot weather, in fact some Malaysian-owned oil palm plantations were also razed," he said.
• However, he said the rainy weather in Kuala Lumpur has helped to reduce the impact of haze here.

According to the Department of Environment website, seven areas recorded unhealthy API (Air Pollutant Index) exceeding 100 as at 8am this morning.

Three areas in Negeri Sembilan with unhealthy API readings were Nilai (135), Port Dickson (117) and Seremban (114).

Also having unhealthy API were Melaka city (111), Bukit Rambai (126), Batu Muda (Kuala Lumpur, 108) and Banting (106).

Source: The Malaysian Insider