Ahead of National Day celebrations, Malaysia to step up haze mitigation measures with Indonesia

PEKANBARU, Indonesia - Millions of Indonesians face health risks from thick haze covering several cities and towns, as El Nino-fueled wildfires ravage Borneo and Sumatra islands, officials reported on Wednesday. The Indonesian health ministry warns that 3.4 million people in seven provinces on the islands are at risk of respiratory infections due to smoke exposure.

In Pekanbaru, the capital of Sumatra's Riau province, thick smog forced the government to close dozens of schools and urged residents to stay indoors. Nighttime smog has made Pekanbaru feel almost deserted, with many people reluctant to venture outside, wearing masks to protect themselves from the smoke. A resident expressed distress over the smog's impact, describing the feeling as "breathing in freshly burned trash."

In Jambi, Sumatra, a homemaker reported her four-year-old child and herself coughing frequently, with difficulty breathing. The Jambi local government has ordered home schooling for children in kindergarten and elementary school for the week. The health ministry has distributed over 260,000 face masks to residents in the most affected areas.

President Prabowo Subianto stated that the government has deployed helicopters, aircraft, water pumps, and thousands of personnel to combat the blazes, hoping to resolve the situation within one to two weeks. Most wildfires are attributed to slash-and-burn practices for agricultural land clearing. Police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting fires over the weekend.

Since January, wildfires have burned more than 200,000 hectares of land, an area three times the size of Jakarta, surpassing previous El Nino seasons in 2019 and 2023. Muslims in Indonesia prayed for rain on the day of Prophet Mohammed's birth, coinciding with the haze. Malaysia offered assistance in battling the fires, and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur was temporarily ranked second-most polluted city globally due to poor air quality.