Indonesian forestry minister Siti Nurbaya said Malaysia was not being transparent about its own forest fires, while Malaysian environment minister Yeo Bee Yin said on Facebook Wednesday that “Minister Siti Nurbaya should not be in denial,” as she pointed to ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center data showing Indonesian hotspots.
(Sept 13): Governments in Southeast Asia are taking steps to guard against a potential deterioration in pollution levels from Indonesian forest fires, as smoke and ash continue to blanket the skies over the region.
While Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and President Joko Widodo struck a cordial tone with each other – Mahathir wrote a letter to Jokowi, as Widodo is known, offering help to put out the forest fires – the two countries’ environment ministers took a less amiable tone, laying blame on each others’ countries for the haze.
