Indonesia detects 4,000 haze hotspots

Bloomberg

More than 4,000 hotspots were detected in the central and western parts of Indonesia as authorities deployed thousands of personnel to fight the fires that are contributing to a haze blanketing parts of Southeast Asia.
Indonesia said it has sealed off dozens of plantations, including concessions owned by foreign companies. In what has become a ritual once the haze starts,
the finger-pointing has begun between Indonesia and its regional neighbours.
Singapore and Malaysia have been plagued for decades by periodic haze caused by clouds of ash from fires in neighboring Indonesia, with pollution levels at hazardous levels causing deaths and respiratory illnesses.
Stinging smoke from illegal burning to clear land for palm oil and paper plantations has prompted school closures and disrupted travel in the region, and even forced Indonesians to flee their homes.
Central Kalimantan is the worst-affected region, according to Indonesia’s disaster management agency. There were about 740 hotspots on the island of Sumatra including in Riau and Jambi, to the south of Singapore and Malaysia.
Malaysian plantation company Kuala Lumpur Kepong will cooperate with Indonesian authorities in the investigation into forest fires on land owned by a subsidiary, PT Adei Plantation and Industry, according to report from Bernama.
More than 1,000 travellers were left stranded at an airport in the state of Perak as flights were cancelled due to the worsening haze, the Star reported. Five flights by Singapore Air’s budget unit Scoot, AirAsia and Malindo were affected by the cancellations, the paper said.
Indonesia has sealed off plantation lands belonging to three Malaysian companies and a Singapore one, Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said.