ASIA: A regional air quality emergency is unfolding across Southeast Asia as wildfires burning in Indonesia’s Kalimantan provinces push pollution levels to hazardous extremes, with the haze spreading across borders to choke cities as far away as Metro Manila, according to reports from Channel NewsAsia (CNA) and Inquirer.

Indonesia: The epicentre

The crisis originates in the forests of Borneo, where fires in Central and West Kalimantan have generated air quality readings that dwarf international danger thresholds. According to CNA, citing data from Swiss air quality monitoring platform IQAir, Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan recorded an AQI of 780 as of noon on Monday, making it the most polluted city in the Indonesian archipelago that day. Pontianak in West Kalimantan followed with an AQI of 593. Any reading above 300 is classified as hazardous.

Indonesia’s Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said last week that more than five million people on Borneo and Sumatra are directly exposed to the risks of the haze, CNA reported, with approximately 13,500 people already treated for respiratory infections in July and August alone.

In response, the Indonesian military and government agencies have begun reforestation and ecosystem restoration efforts in East and North Kalimantan. VI/Mulawarman Regional Military Commander Krido Pramono said tree planting is being carried out along riverbanks in burned and degraded areas, alongside water infrastructure improvements to support fire prevention and firefighting, CNA reported, citing national news agency Antara.

Japan has also stepped in. A Japan Self-Defense Force transport ship departed from Hiroshima prefecture on Sunday and is expected to reach Indonesia within one to two weeks, CNA reported. Approximately 600 personnel and three CH-47 helicopters will participate in what is described as the Self-Defense Forces’ first overseas firefighting mission, carried out under a cooperation agreement signed by both countries’ defence ministries in May. Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tokyo “will do everything possible to help prevent further expansion of the damage.”

The Philippines: Acutely unhealthy air across Metro Manila

The haze has crossed borders, reaching the Philippines with alarming intensity. Inquirer reported that as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Envi...