Smoke from Indonesia covered the city of Malaysia

On June 16, some Malaysian cities were covered with haze from Indonesian wildfire on Sumatra island, causing levels of harmful health pollution.

Haze is an annual problem in the rainy season, from May to September, when the wind blows smoke from Sumatra island through the Malacca Strait to Malaysia.

Petronas Twin Towers.(Photo: Wikimedia.org)

The Director General of Malaysia Environment Bureau Halimah Hassan said 46 hotspots in Sumatra were discovered by satellite and the air pollution index (API) recorded at 101 and 129 showed harmful levels of unclean air. Health exists in six areas, including two locations in Malacca state, Port Dickson port and the country's largest port, Port Klang.

In the capital Kuala Lumpur, the sky is cloudy with an air pollution index of 92, just below the threshold for health. The 101-200 API index is considered to be not clean to be harmful to health, while API from 51-100 is average.

Mr. Halimah said that the haze is caused by the west monsoon blowing smoke towards Malaysia. The smoke, mainly due to fires in Indonesia, is often in the dry season, affecting tourism and contributing to regional health problems.

He said the Indonesian government has banned the exploitation of forest land but the law enforcement is not so strict that the ban is largely ignored.

Blind smoke reached the worst in 1997-1998, causing an estimated loss of about 9 billion USD to Southeast Asia due to hindering air travel and other business activities.