Indonesia apologises for haze

Indonesian fire fighters and military personnels extinguish the wildfire on a peat land in Rimbo Panjang , Kampar, Riau Province, Indonesia, 06 September 2015. - EPA.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Indonesian Member of Parliament has apologised for the haze currently blanketing the region.

Hamdhani Mukhdar Said, who is in charge of environment and international relations, said he would raise the issue with the Indonesian parliament for more efforts to deal with the haze situation.

"I want to apologise to the Malaysian people for the haze.

"The annual haze is not intentional but due to the droughts that affects parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan," he told reporters during a break in the 36th General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly here on Tuesday.

He said the Indonesian central government has allocated US$1mil to provinces affected by peat and forest fires.

"We will request the government for more allocation to help fight the fires," he added.

The haze afflicting Malaysia is a result of widespread clearing of forests in Indonesia for oil palm plantations.