KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Umno Youth will push Indonesia to act swiftly and firmly on the forest fires that have led to thick haze here and in neighbouring Singapore.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the Youth wing will hand over a memorandum to the Indonesian Embassy today.

“PPUM thinks the government of the Republic of Indonesia has to act firmly in this matter, for the sake of the spirit of neighbourliness, tolerance and co-operation between Southeast Asian countries,” Khairy (picture) said in a statement today, referring to the Umno Youth by its Malay initials.

He added that the Umno Youth will distribute free face masks to people living in the areas that are hardest hit by the haze.

Khairy, who is youth and sports minister, said the government was ready to help Indonesia in tackling this problem.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared a state of emergency in the Johor districts of Muar and Ledang following the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Muar reaching a high of 746 before dropping down to 507 at 5pm.

A few states in Malaysia have ordered schools to be closed today due to the worsening haze situation.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel will meet his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta on Wednesday to discuss methods to fight the haze and control open fires in Indonesia.

Indonesia has yet to ratify the 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

The nine other Asean members including Malaysia have adopted this agreement which enables regional co-operation to prevent, monitor and mitigate land and forest fires.