MALAYSIA said it was ready to cooperate with Indonesia to manage forest and land fires raging in several areas in the archipelago nation, said Jakarta’s Foreign Ministry.

This offer was conveyed in an official letter sent by Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to his Indonesian counterpart Siti Nurbaya Bakar.

Siti Nurbaya’s spokesman Lalu Muhamad Iqbal confirmed the letter contained information on the current air quality situation in Malaysia.

“Yes, the Malaysian government sent a letter to the environment minister,” Lalu said in response to media inquiries about the letter.

On Wednesday, Nik Nazmi sent a letter to Indonesia to expedite the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

In August, the Malaysian consulate in Pontianak donated six water pumps to the government of the West Kalimantan Region for the prevention and control of forest and land fires.

Education Malaysia in Indonesia (EMI) and the National Union of Malaysian Students in Indonesia (PKPMI) said they have been monitoring the smog situation in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Each branch of PKPMI in Indonesia has been urged to promptly provide information to EMI if any students are affected.

“Until today, we have not received any complaints or reports about students being affected by the smog,” said education attaché at the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, Zulfadhli Hamzah.

There were 543 Malaysian students in Sumatra and 50 in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. – Bernama, October 6, 2023.