KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 – Malaysia called for a meeting of Southeast Asian ministers as early as next week after haze from illegal Indonesian forest fires reached hazardous levels in parts of the region.

Smog has drifted north along Malaysia’s western coast after air pollution reached a record in Singapore last week. Areas surrounding Kuala Lumpur were classed as unhealthy as the capital’s 88-floor twin towers disappeared from view today.

Singapore and Malaysia have been plagued for decades by periodic haze from forest fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra, with regular spats over responsibility.

“Malaysian laws cannot be applied in Indonesia,” G. Palanivel, Malaysia’s Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today. “It is for them to stop this and take action and not us.”

Malaysia is offering to host a meeting of the sub-regional ministerial steering committee on trans-boundary haze in Kuala Lumpur next week, Palanivel said, adding Singapore was supportive of such a summit. The meeting was originally scheduled for Aug. 20-21. The government is awaiting a response from Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, he said. Singapore’s National Environment Agency didn’t immediately respond to queries.

Cloud Seeding

“I will be meeting my Indonesian counterpart on Wednesday about the haze and propose Malaysia’s offer to do cloud seeding in the country,” Palanivel said.

Fire-fighting continued on Sumatra today with a third water-bombing helicopter deployed, operating alongside two planes used to create artificial rain, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman at Indonesia’s disaster management agency, said by text message. Cloud-seeding in Malaysia has stalled due to dry weather and a lack of clouds.

Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index reached 292 in Port Dickson in the state of Negeri Sembilan, 288 in Selangor’s Port Klang and 253 in Kemaman in Terengganu as of 11 a.m. today, according to the Department of Environment’s website. Levels above 300 are deemed hazardous.

Prime Minister Najib Razak declared an emergency in parts of southern Johor state yesterday after the API hit levels around 750. Schools in Johor, Kuala Lumpur and other affected areas were closed today and people advised to stay indoors.

Healthy Range

Pollution improved to between moderate and unhealthy today in Johor, which borders Singapore. The Pollutant Standards Index in Singapore stood at 65 at 2 pm today, which is within the healthy range, the NEA said on its website.

There are 17 timber firms and 15 palm oil firms, including Singapore-listed Wilmar International Ltd., Kuala Lumpur-based Sime Darby Bhd. and Singapore-based Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd, with land in areas affected by fires, T. Nirarta Samadhi, an Indonesian government spokesman, said June 21, citing data from the non-government World Resources Institute. Wilmar and Sime Darby have told Bloomberg they have a zero-burning policy.

Two Malaysian Airline System Bhd. flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan were cancelled yesterday due to the haze, Azmi Murad, senior general manager of operations at Malaysia Airports Bhd, said by phone today. Operations were normal so far today, he said. There were no flight cancellations at AirAsia Bhd, the budget carrier said in an e-mailed response to questions today.

Three international-level sports events may be postponed if the haze doesn’t improve, including a five-day cycling tour, the Star reported on its website, citing Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Ministry.

Malaysia reported its worst case of haze in 1997 when the pollution reading reached 839 in Kuching in the eastern Sarawak state, prompting the government to impose a 10-day emergency, according to the Star today. On peninsular Malaysia an emergency was declared in Kuala Selangor and Port Klang near the capital in 2005 when the pollution index breached 500, the Star reported. – Bloomberg