KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia preparing to seed clouds after air quality in parts of the country reached unhealthy levels due to smog from forest fires in neighboring Indonesia, an official said Monday.
Smog regularly blankets parts of Southeast Asia during the dry season, when burning is used to clear Indonesian land for palm oil, paper plantations and other crops, sparking ire from regional neighbors.
In the latest outbreak, parts of Malaysia's eastern state of Sarawak on Borneo island have been blanketed with smog for days.
The pollutant index in some places has reached "very unhealthy levels," said Gary Theseira, special functions officer with the environment ministry.
"It is extremely severe in Kuching," Theseira said, referring to a city of half a million people.
He said Malaysia is prepared to carry out cloud seeding to reduce the smog.
"The moment the cloud situation is right, the chemicals will be loaded and the aircraft will take off and proceed with the seeding," he said.
Some countries seed clouds during prolonged dry spells to induce rain and clear the air by releasing chemicals into the clouds, although some experts have questioned its efficacy.
Boo Siang Voon, a 47-year-old engineer in Kuching, described the skies as "hazy, hot with smoky smell."
"This year the smog is getting worse. Residents are using face masks. We should not pay the price of our health for the open burning. We want a solution," he said.
The Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and neighboring Singapore were also suffering hazy conditions on Monday, with the air laced with the smell of burning foliage, although the pollutant index remained at moderate levels.
Some Kuala Lumpur residents complained about eye and throat irritation.
Malaysia's meteorological department on Sunday warned that hot temperatures will prevail for another week, and the monsoon season is not expected to arrive until the end of September or early October.
The ministry of science, technology and innovation said Friday it would lodge a complaint with Indonesia for the haze and called for quick action to put out the fires.
Indonesian authorities have deployed thousands of extra personnel since August to prevent a repeat of the 2015 fires, which were the worst for in decades and choked the region in haze for weeks.
Under pressure from neighbors, Indonesian leader Joko Widodo in August warned that officials would be sacked if they failed to stamp out forest fires.
One of the originators of the original form of cloud seeding, involving silver iodide, Bernard Vonnegut, brother of the novelist Kurt.
© Agence France-Presse
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