Forest fires brought on by drought in Malaysia and Indonesia fouled air quality to unhealthy levels in parts of Southeast Asia, stoking concerns of a repeat of the haze that engulfed the region in June.
Malaysia’s air pollutant index climbed as high as 137 in Port Klang on March 3, with parts of Kuala Lumpur and the states of Selangor and Negri Sembilan recording levels above 100, classified as unhealthy. In Singapore, which had the driest month in February since records began in 1869, the pollution index on March 4 reached 56, considered moderate. The reading in Indonesia’s Riau province city of Dumai topped 700 the same day, the Jakarta Post reported.
