Malaysia seeds clouds to bring relief as haze from Indonesian forest fires chokes Southeast Asia
- Malaysia closed more than 1,000 schools nationwide on Wednesday and air quality worsened in Singapore days before the city’s Formula One race
- Deteriorating air quality also resulted in delay at corruption trial of Najib Razak after lawyers said he needed treatment for symptoms of conjunctivitis
Malaysia on Wednesday dispatched aircraft to disperse chemicals over the country to clear the smoky air, as toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires shut thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia , while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city state’s Formula One race.
Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle them. Borneo island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
Malaysia hopes that cloud seeding, releasing chemicals such as sodium chloride and magnesium oxide into the air from aircraft, can encourage water droplets to form and rain to fall.
Jailan Simon, the director general of Malaysia’s Meteorological Department, said rain will help clear the air, but any relief will only be temporary if more smoke rolls in from Indonesian fires.
“You can reduce the severity of the haze, but cloud seeding doesn’t help if there is still burning happening at the source and the wind is blowing the haze towards us,” Jailan said.