JAKARTA, Aug 10 (AFP) - Indonesian officials warned Wednesday that forest fires producing a choking haze which has cloaked parts of neighbouring Malaysia would worsen in coming weeks.

Meteorologists have blamed illegal land clearance by farmers on Sumatra island and Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island, for causing the haze that has cloaked the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and most of its surrounding areas for the past week.

Satellite images revealed more than 220 "hot spots" from forest fires and from fires set to clear land in West Kalimantan province on Tuesday, said Kusnadi, head of the provincial forest fire team.

Kusnadi said the fires would worsen over the next two weeks as the indigenous Dayak tribes deemed it a good time to continue preparing for the planting season.

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"Fires are still ongoing and, in the area around West Kalimantan, it's getting worse by the day. Air quality in many areas is unhealthy from night time until early morning," Kusnadi told AFP.

The province had enough rangers to fight the fires but the problem persisted due to "ignorance" by local residents who continued clearing land with fires, and the remote locations of the blazes.

He also accused district officials in West Kalimantan of not doing enough to warn the Dayak tribes to stop setting fires.

"Apart from the lack of participation by local officials, we are also experiencing problems to reach the fires because they are too far away from water resources, which are also drying up because of the dry season," he said.

Forest fires and land clearance were also continuing in Sumatra's Riau province, which faces peninsular Malaysia, said Khairul Zaenal, head of the province's environmental impact agency.

He said sporadic fires were raging along about 80 kilometers (50 miles) of peatland near the border of Riau and North Sumatra provinces.

"We have so far deployed 14 teams to contain the fire. Each team consists of up to 15 men. We still do not have enough men because the fire continues to rage on," he told AFP.

"This is not just Malaysia's problem. This is also a problem for us because if our forests are burning, our assets are also burning," said Zaenal.

He said he had sought help from the state technology research agency in Jakarta to attempt to create rain in the area.

A blanket of haze hanging over Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas worsened dramatically Wednesday, posing a hazard to shipping in the busy Malacca Strait.

Haze caused by fires in Indonesia and Malaysia is a common occurrence during hot, dry seasons.

In 1997 and 1998, choking haze caused mainly by Indonesian forest fires enveloped parts of Southeast Asia including Malaysia for months.

Source : Catcha.com.my

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