Current:Home > MarketsIndonesia denies its fires are causing blankets of haze in neighboring Malaysia-LoTradeCoin
Indonesia denies its fires are causing blankets of haze in neighboring Malaysia
View Date:2024-12-23 18:25:19
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia denied Friday that forest and peat fires on Sumatra and Borneo islands were causing the haze in Malaysia, after the neighboring government sent a letter complaining about the air quality and asking to work together to deal with the fires.
Forest and peat fires are an annual problem in Indonesia that strains relations with neighboring countries. In recent years, smoke from the fires has blanketed parts of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand.
Some parts of Malaysia said they experienced smoke from the Indonesian fires since last week, but the Indonesian government denied its fires are the cause.
“Until now there is no transboundary haze. No cross-border smoke. I don’t know what basis Malaysia uses to make these statements,” Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesian Environment and Forestry minister, told The Associated Press.
Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, and Kuching, one of its cities on Borneo island, were recently ranked as among the world’s top five most polluted cities by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company.
There are more than 1,900 recorded hotspots on Sumatra, mostly in South Sumatra province, according to the data from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. On Monday, the local government in South Sumatra asked residents to work from home and schools to go online amid a blanket of haze. Hundreds of forest fires in South Kalimantan province in Borneo island made the smoke haze even more widespread, especially during the last week. The local government has also called the students to do online learning as the air quality is unhealthy.
Indonesian authorities have so far ignored Malaysia’s request.
Bakar provided government data showing that, while it fluctuates, air quality in the regions where the peat and forest fires were found in the past week were getting better.
“We are still working to handle the forest and land fires in Borneo and Sumatra islands as well as possible. And the picture of the situation on the ground is getting better,” she said, adding that rain was aiding the process in multiple areas, including through government rain-seeding efforts.
veryGood! (3256)
Related
- Song Jae-lim, Moon Embracing the Sun Actor, Dead at 39
- King Charles III applauds people who stood against racism during recent unrest in the UK
- Two men were shot to death before a concert at a raceway in Iowa
- Jupiter and Mars are about meet up: How to see the planetary conjunction
- Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
- UNC women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who won 21 NCAA titles, retires
- Credit card debt: Inflation, interest rates have more Americans carrying balances over
- In Jordan Chiles' case, IOC has precedent to hand out two bronze medals
- In an AP interview, the next Los Angeles DA says he’ll go after low-level nonviolent crimes
- Brittney Griner’s tears during national anthem show how much this Olympic gold medal means
Ranking
- Here's Your First Look at The White Lotus Season 3 With Blackpink’s Lisa and More Stars
- Millie Bobby Brown Includes Nod to Jake Bongiovi Marriage on Stranger Things Set
- Christina Hall Shares Update on Her Kids Amid Josh Hall Divorce
- A'ja Wilson dragged US women's basketball to Olympic gold in an ugly win over France
- Hurricane forecasters on alert: November storm could head for Florida
- Catfish Host Nev Schulman Shares He Broke His Neck in a Bike Accident
- From grief to good: How maker spaces help family honor child lost to cancer
- Two men were shot to death before a concert at a raceway in Iowa
Recommendation
-
Jennifer Garner Details Navigating Grief 7 Months After Death of Her Dad William Garner
-
The Daily Money: Which airports have most delays?
-
Who will be on 2028 Olympic women's basketball team? Caitlin Clark expected to make debut
-
Samsung recalls a million stoves after humans, pets accidentally activate them
-
Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post
-
Should Shelby McEwen have shared gold for USA's medal count? Don't be ridiculous
-
Will Katie Ledecky Compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? She Says...
-
Man arrested in connection with attempt to ship a ton of meth to Australia