The Indonesian government, represented by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), has refuted claims that haze resulting from forest and land fires in Indonesia has crossed into Malaysia.

Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, issued an official statement in Jakarta, stating that Malaysia's complaints about Indonesian haze are inaccurate.

Minister Siti Nurbaya emphasized that they have been closely monitoring the situation, and there is no evidence of transboundary haze reaching Malaysia.

To support this claim, her ministry received reports of haze distribution imagery from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) for the period from September 28th to 30th, 2023, up until yesterday afternoon at 16:00 WIB (Western Indonesian Time).

Minister Siti Nurbaya pointed out that these reports confirmed that there is no transboundary haze originating from Indonesia that has entered Malaysia.

According to the observations by ASMC, there was moderate to dense haze in several areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan for several days. However, on October 1st, 2023, the haze began to thicken in Central Kalimantan (Kalteng) and South Sumatra (Sumsel). Nevertheless, there was no observed cross-border haze.

ASMC is a regional collaborative program among the National Meteorological Services (NMSs) of ASEAN member countries and operates under the Singapore Meteorological Service.

Additionally, satellite observations by the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) indicated haze distribution in Indonesian regions during those three days. While haze was detected in various areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the prevailing wind direction in Indonesia generally moves from the southeast to the northwest and northeast, with no evidence of cross-border haze.

Minister Siti Nurbaya emphasized that both sources of information, ASMC and BMKG, confirm that there is no transboundary haze.

She further mentioned that there are various concerns from different parties that need attention. Currently, the Indonesian government is actively working to extinguish fires in forests and peatlands in several regions, including South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and parts of Java.

Source: NST