Malaysia haze: Schools shut over health concerns

Following a public outcry, ten Singaporean companies that manufacture paper products announced on Monday they do not source wood from five firms in Indonesia suspected of contributing to the haze.

Competitors include four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin of the United States, who was slated to make her competitive debut in Singapore for the 200m backstroke.

Bernama said Najib blamed this year’s annual “haze” problem for deteriorating air quality in Malaysia and added it was affecting the economy, giving no further details.

Malaysian authorities had earlier ordered schools closed across much of the country on Monday and Tuesday – following previous school closures last month – as pollution levels spiked at the weekend.

“If the forecasts for a longer dry season hold, this suggests 2015 will rank among the most severe events on record”, Robert Field, of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

As at 11am today in Singapore, the 24-hour pollutant standard index was 115-149, in the unhealthy range, and the three-hour PSI was 115.

Its chairman, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, said this was because Malaysia had been suffering the choking haze each year, which was caused by forest fires in Indonesia. “I have just taken helm of this ministry and now, we are still in the proposal stage”, he said.

Haze resulting from forests being burned to clear land for farming and plantations in Indonesia’s peat-rich provinces on Sumatra and Kalimantan has become an annual problem for the region over the past two decades.

Indonesia is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly from deforestation.

“The haze that is happening is beyond our control”, said Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid.

Malaysia’s deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took a swipe at Indonesia as his country cancelled sporting events including a marathon for 30,000 runners and local soccer matches.