Malaysia schools shut over smog concerns
Most of the schools in Malaysia have been ordered to close for two days over health concerns raised by the thick haze from Indonesian forest fires.
According to the Malaysian Education Ministry, all schools, except a handful in outlying areas, should close on October 5 and 6.
Describing the haze as beyond control, Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid said the issue must be addressed “wisely and quickly as it can do harm to our children.”
“We will not compromise with anything that may bring harm to our children in schools," the Malaysian education minister stated.
The pollution has affected large parts of Southeast Asia for several weeks now, provoking health alerts, numerous school shutdowns and disrupting flights.
The smog has been the result of forest fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, afflicting Malaysia, Singapore and large portions of Indonesia itself, as well as the Philippine Island of Cebu that saw its seventh straight day of haze on Saturday.
Nearly half of Malaysia's 52 pollutant monitoring stations showed “unhealthy” air quality on Sunday, while six stations, including one in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, registered “very unhealthy” levels.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he hoped that Jakarta would take long-term measures to contain the crisis.
The current pollution is expected to become the worst on record as it could top the USD9-billion damage Malaysia suffered in 1997.
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