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Haze from continuing forest and peatland fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra island was spotted in sections of Malaysia on Sunday, said weather authorities. Seasonal fires, a yearly phenomenon in Indonesia, have been putting diplomatic ties with neighboring nations under strain for long.
In Riau province, which was among the worst-hit regions, more than 140 fires in forests and peatlands, particularly in Rokan Hilir and Rokan Hulu districts, were reported. The fires have scorched about 46 hectares of land, producing thick haze and, in some places, lowering visibility to only one kilometre, Riau deputy police chief Adrianto Jossy Kusumo said.
While the provincial capital Pekanbaru has not been seriously impacted by the smoke, air quality in Riau has deteriorated, Kusumo reported. He added that the number of fire hotspots decreased from 294 on Saturday as firefighting activities managed to extinguish fires in numerous areas.
Meteorologist Gita Dewi of the Pekanbaru’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency verified that satellite images revealed the haze moving northeast to Kemang Bay, which is in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state. “The wind took the haze over the border,” Dewi said. She further informed that there were more hotspots in West Sumatra and North Sumatra, but the most raging fires were in Riau.
Forest fires and peatland fires on Sumatra and Borneo occur during the dry season and tend to send haze across the border to affect Singapore and southern Thailand as well. In 2023, Indonesia took no responsibility for the haze seen in Malaysia, even though for years it had been sending apologies to neighbours for the same occurrence.
The Indonesian government has often accused plantation firms and local farmers of lighting fires as a means of clearing land, a practice illegal but ongoing in rural communities. Firefighting crews are still closely tracking the hotspots.
