THE Indonesian government, through the Environment and Forestry Ministry, has denied allegations of smog from forest and land fires in Indonesia crossing into Malaysia.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in a statement in Jakarta today that Malaysia’s complaint about Indonesian smog is not accurate.

“We have been monitoring the situation, and there is no transboundary haze reaching Malaysia,” she said.

Siti Nurbaya said based on the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s observations for several days, smog was moderately to densely present in several areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan. On October 1, it began to thicken in central Kalimantan and south Sumatra. Nevertheless, there was no observed cross-border smog.

ASMC is a regional collaborative programme among the National Meteorological Services of Asean member countries. ASMC operates under the Singapore Meteorological Service.

Siti Nurbaya said based on satellite observations by the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, the imagery of smog distribution in Indonesian regions from September 28 to 30 showed smoke detected in several areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The prevailing wind direction in Indonesia is generally from the southeast to the northwest and northeast, and no cross-border smoke has been detected.

“So it’s clear, both sources confirm that there is no cross-border haze,” said Siti Nurbaya.

She said the Indonesian government is continuing its efforts to extinguish fires raging in forests and peatlands in south Sumatra, central Kalimantan, south Kalimantan and parts of Java.

Various operations are being carried out to extinguish the fires, including ground firefighting to water bombing and weather modification technology.

The ministry has revealed that 203 companies have been given warnings, and 20 firms have been sealed due to their involvement in the fires, including subsidiaries of Malaysian companies.

“The Indonesian government continues to work hard to address the forest and land fires,” said Siti Nurbaya. – Bernama, October 2, 2023.