Indonesia to open airspace for cloud seeding to tackle haze, Malaysia says
Sarawak, which borders Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo island, has been worst hit by the haze.
A motorist rides along a road shrouded in haze from wildfires in Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Aug 23, 2026. (File photo: Reuters/Abriansyah Liberto)
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KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia has given Malaysian agencies official permission to enter its airspace to conduct cloud seeding operations, Malaysia’s environment minister said on Monday (Aug 24), part of both countries’ efforts to combat the haze blanketing the region.
Indonesia has been stepping up efforts to slow the spread of haze caused by forest and land fires across several provinces, which this month led to dozens of school closures, including in neighbouring Malaysia.
Malaysia’s national disaster management agency and its meteorological department are currently preparing schedules for cloud seeding operations in shared border locations, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said in a statement.
This will be coordinated with the Indonesian military, he said.
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Malaysia was also prepared to offer assistance to Indonesia in extinguishing fires, with any specific requests to be brought to Cabinet for further action, said the minister.
Kurup said the two countries would be escalating their firefighting and fire prevention programmes ahead of national holidays in the coming weeks, including the Malaysia Day celebrations in Sarawak state on Sep 16.
Sarawak, which borders Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo island, has been worst hit by the haze.
Six districts in Sarawak recorded unhealthy air pollution index (API) readings on Monday, according to data released by the environment department.
Unhealthy API levels were also recorded in eight other districts across four states on the Malaysian peninsula, the data showed.
Source: Reuters/rl
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