Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, apologized to Malaysia and Singapore over the hazy pollution that has affected the air quality in both countries yesterday evening.

He said Indonesia was fully responsible to overcome the haze disaster and was confident that the problem would be rectified soon.

“As the president, I apologize for what has happened and hope for understanding from our friends in Singapore and Malaysia,” he told a news conference at the president’s office in Jakarta yesterday.

The president pledged that Indonesia would extinguish every fire spot burning in Indonesian forests by utilizing cloud seeding along with the mobilization of fire-fighting and military personnel on land. He also says that there were statements made by some Indonesian officials that should not have been made public, such as a previous statement by said officials that opined that Malaysian and Singaporean companies were also partly to blame.

He notes that the companies involved in the haze situation had not been determined and government officials should refrain from issuing such statements.

“Even if the companies were negligent, it is not necessary to name them. Or the fact that they are owned by our neighboring countries. What is more important now is to focus on overcoming the fire disaster that has dragged on for a week,” he said.

On a separate note, schools in the Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, and Port Dickson areas will be reopening as the Education deputy director-general said that the Air Pollutant Index (API) continues to show positive development.

Source:

• The New Straits Times – Indonesia apologizes
• The New Straits Times – Port Dickson schools to re-open
• The New Straits Times – KL, Putrajaya, Selangor schools to re-open