Malaysia seeks urgent ASEAN talks as Indonesian haze forces school closures
Disaster officials from Malaysia and Indonesia have begun discussing cooperation, while Manila says haze will feature at a forthcoming regional meeting.
Malaysia has requested an urgent ASEAN meeting over pollution from Indonesian wildfires, as haze forced Malaysian schools to close. Manila, the host of this year’s ASEAN summit, confirmed that foreign ministers would discuss the crisis at their forthcoming meeting.
Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said disaster management officials from Malaysia and Indonesia had begun talks about tackling the haze. Malaysia had offered firefighting assistance, but the type of cooperation would depend on those discussions, he told reporters.
The fires have affected hundreds of thousands of hectares in Indonesia, with pollution also rising in Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor. Schools in East Timor have also closed because of the haze. A strong El Nino cycle, which tends to bring drought to Indonesia, has worsened the country’s seasonal fires.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim defended Malaysia’s diplomatic response, saying his government had exhausted its efforts to engage Indonesia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto ordered the government to maximise firefighting efforts, with blazes in some areas continuing for three months.
Malaysian parliamentarian Syerleena Abdul Rashid called for greater transparency from Jakarta, tougher action against businesses responsible for illegal burning and stronger regional cooperation. She said companies connected to burning should face accountability regardless of whether they were Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean.
