This is from The Star 13–8–2005. Agree totally with the writer.
COMMENT
By WONG CHUN WAI
LET’s be clear about this as we talk about the haze. Malaysians are fed up with having to put up with this annual problem and, this time, many of us think it has gone too far.
Malaysia is literally choking as the country has been blanketed with smog over the past few days. Schools, ports, offices, shops and the Subang airport have been ordered closed as visibility worsened.
The question is why does the Indonesian government allow these selfish plantation owners to burn their forests and let them get away with it?
Indonesia has fingered 10 Malaysian-owned plantations as being responsible for the starting the fires. If that is the case, it should name the culprits. The owners should not only be prosecuted but if found guilty should be severely punished and even jailed if this is provided for under the law.
These people should also be made to pay compensation, for they have profited at the expense of others. They should not be let off so easily.
That aside, the forest fires are also the work of farmers in Sumatra who slash and burn these forests to clear their land. It is as simple as that. We have all along known the source of the problem since 1990 when Asean leaders met to talk about these hotspots.
But 15 years later, the talk has not moved beyond anything else. To put it bluntly, it has been all talk and nothing else. For the last few years, we have had to send our fire fighters and ministers to Indonesia to seek their cooperation.
We have heard the apologies from Indonesia before but maybe it’s time we invited the Indonesian officials to come over and see the problem for themselves. Jakarta doesn’t have a smog problem, Kuala Lumpur does.
The Indonesians will able to understand our frustration, and even anger, better if they can spend a few days walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang and Kuala Selangor, the last two having been declared emergency areas.
Work has been disrupted and obviously money and productivity lost as a result of such yearly burning in Indonesia. More important, our health has been affected because of the foul air and that is worrying.
Malaysians do not care if the haze is confined to Indonesia as a result of the indiscriminate burning but, unfortunately, it has affected us. Tomorrow, the wind may just blow to Singapore.
Yesterday, haze reduced visibility in the Straits of Malacca to less than 1km, posing risks to ships while vessels at Port Klang have been beached.
The question is what guarantee can Indonesia give us that Malaysians will not have to go through this again this time next year? Do we have to put with more joint committees and sub-committees to come up with more meaningless reports?
Or are Malaysians supposed to adopt a positive attitude in the face of the smog in the spirit of good neighbourliness as the farmers and greedy plantation owners get back to their irresponsible action next week?
At our end, the government too has set up committees in the past with promises of early warning systems but, obviously, we are defenceless when such a problem hits us.
But for the moment, we have no choice but to offer to send to our fire fighters there to help put out the fires. We are, of course, supposed to be thankful that the offer has been accepted.
Malaysians, however, must appreciate the decision of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to release the air pollutant indices for the first time after six years.
Until now, for some strange reason, these figures have been regarded as a state secret for fear of scaring away tourists. Common sense has finally prevailed because the health of Malaysians is far more important than tourist dollars.
Indonesia has to wake up to the fact that the forest fires have become an Asean problem, full stop. Let’s end this annual ritual once and for all with serious enforcement.
Bisa diatur, as our neighbour would say. (“Can be arranged” in Bahasa Indonesia).
Can really smell the smoke and acrid smell. Hope it will not last long. Too many fire hotspots in Sumatera, Indonesia. 
Need to cry out to God to send rain, heavy rain that will put out the hotspots.