Indonesia to open airspace for cloud seeding to tackle haze, Malaysia says
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Indonesia has been stepping up efforts to slow the spread of haze caused by forest and land fires across several provinces.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KUALA LUMPUR - Indonesia has given Malaysian agencies official permission to enter its airspace to conduct cloud seeding operations, Malaysia's environment minister said on Aug 24, part of both countries’ efforts to combat the haze blanketing the region.
Indonesia has been stepping up efforts to slow the spread of haze caused by forest and land fires across several provinces, which in August led to dozens of school closures, including in neighbouring Malaysia.
Malaysia’s national disaster management agency and its meteorological department are currently preparing schedules for cloud seeding operations in shared border locations, to be coordinated with the Indonesian military, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said in a statement.
Malaysia was also prepared to offer assistance to Indonesia in extinguishing fires, with any specific requests to be brought to Cabinet for further action, Kurup said.
Kurup said the two countries would be escalating their firefighting and fire prevention programmes ahead of national holidays in the coming weeks, including the Malaysia Day celebrations in Sarawak state on Sept 16.
Sarawak, which borders Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo island, has been worst hit by the haze.
Six districts in Sarawak recorded unhealthy air pollution index (API) readings on Aug 24, according to data released by the environment department. Unhealthy API levels were also recorded in eight other districts across four states on the Malaysian peninsula, the data showed. REUTERS
