Operation Haze

Operation Haze is the biggest cross border firefighting mission in history that involved teams of Malaysian firefighters going across to Indonesia to assist with putting out fires that were causing haze.

The haze first became a considerable disruption to daily life in Malaysia in April 1983. The cause of the haze is uncertain, which has led to speculation that suspended ash particulates from volcanic eruptions, suspended smoke particulates from large-scale forest fires, open agricultural burning in neighbouring countries, as well as local agricultural burning had caused the haze. The disruption happened again in August 1990, from June to October 1991, and has recurred every year since 1992, plagueing the months of August, September, and October. The effects of the haze reached their zenith in 1997 when the cause of the haze was confirmed to be forest and plantation fires in Southern Sumatra, Kalimantan, and some other islands of Indonesia as the sky remained dull with pollution from August until November of that year.

By September 1997, forest fires in Indonesia had been raging uncontrollably. The area where the fire took place was estimated to be the size of 4 million football pitches and was visible even from space. The Indonesian forest fires produced noxious yellow smoke clouds that smothered a vast region of South East Asia, reaching as far as northern Australia. The clouds caused the air quality disaster known as the 1997 South East Asian haze. Millions of people were forced to wear masks and hundreds of death were reported in Indonesia, as a direct or indirect result of a severe decline in air quality.

The impact of the haze caused the Air Pollution Index, which is used by Malaysia, to rises to alarmingly hazardous levels. In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, these API numbers hit record levels. In just six days, 10,000 people had sought treatment for haze related issues. In Malaysia, the Prime Minister was forced to declare a State of Emergency, closing schools, government offices and many shops all over the state, including constructions and industries, which grinded to a halt. The total cost of the damage caused by the haze to Malaysia was estimated to be RM802 million or US$321 million, for the period between August to October 1997. The damage caused by the haze affected the GDP by an estimated 0.30 per cent. The haze even affected the output of gas turbines at the Kuala Langat Power Plant (KLPP), Malaysia. It was hypothesized that gas turbine combustions during haze-free periods when oxygen levels were sufficient, could to achieve perfect or near perfect combustion. However, during the period when the haze occurred, the air contained less amount of oxygen, which affected the combustion, causing it to not perform optimally.

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