ASEANEWS HEADLINE-AIR POLLUTION | INDONESIA: Haze crisis debate heats up ahead of ASEAN summit

October 23, 2026 Contributor 1 Comment ASEANEWS HEADLINE-AIR POLLUTION | INDONESIA: Haze crisis debate heats up ahead of ASEAN summit

Children wearing face masks walk along a smoke-covered dirt road amid land and forest fires in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Oct. 21, 2026. (AFP/Muda Sagala)

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Why a comment about haze fired up Indonesia’s neighbours – Asia Specific podcast, BBC World Service

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Singapore has escalated its concerns about Southeast Asia’s worst haze in more than a decade, demanding answers from ten Indonesian companies it suspects are linked to fires that cause it. The Singaporean government has sent notices that are seen as a shot across the bow, ordering the firms to fight the fires but not directly blaming them or punishing them with fines. Click here to subscribe to our channel: https://bbc.in/3VyyriM It’s the latest chapter in a problem the region has failed to solve for decades. Fires in Indonesia for land clearing send smoke across international borders every dry season. Despite the country having strict laws to prevent widespread burning, the problem has accelerated this year due to an unusually long dry season. Peatland fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have created hazardous air for communities living there. Schools have temporarily closed in Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia was slow to accept offers of help from Malaysia and Singapore, and a government spokesman’s remark that neighbours should be grateful for the oxygen that Indonesian forests create outside of the haze season deepened the row. Singapore has a Transboundary Haze Pollution Act that allows for the government to target companies that cause haze, even though the fires are overseas. Yet to date, no companies have been punished. So what could work to prevent another prolonged haze season in future? On this episode of Asia Specific, host Mariko Oi is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist David Fickling and BBC World Service Jakarta-based journalist Astudestra Ajengrastri. Read more on the story here 👉🏽

T he transboundary haze crisis from Indonesia’s uncontrolled wildfires has triggered a fresh public spat between Indonesian officials and politicians and their counterparts from Malaysia and Singapore over responsibility for the blazes and the role of foreign corporate interests.

For weeks, forest and peatland fires have continued to ravage large parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan amid an unusually severe El Niño-driven dry season, with toxic haze spreading into Singapore and Malaysia, turning what began as a domestic fire disaster into a diplomatic storm.

In a speech on Wednesday, President Prabowo Subianto took aim at unnamed countries that he said “like to insult” Indonesia over forest fires, saying that foreign companies “bear responsibility” for the crisis and that “when the time comes, we will reveal the companies involved.”

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SOCIETY

‘I’m sorry’: Indonesians apologize, urge foreign pressure over haze

Some Indonesians have been turning to social media to voice their frustrations and apologize about the uncontrolled wildfire that causes toxic haze reaching Malaysia, Singapore and other countries, while urging them to protest the Indonesian government over their handling on the issue.

People ride wooden boats on the Kahayan River on Sunday as haze from forest and peatland fires shrouds Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan. (Reuters/Arief Rahman Septian Prathama)

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When atmospheric haze from forest and peatland fires worsened in Kalimantan in mid-October, videos showing skies turning dusty orange spread widely across social media, including one posted by homemaker Firda Ayu Wahyuni in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.

Showing the view outside her house in the city, one of the hardest-hit areas by wildfire-induced haze across Kalimantan, the video she posted drew millions of views on TikTok and Threads before being reposted by national and global news outlets.

Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/10/22/im-sorry-indonesians-apologize-urge-foreign-pressure-over-haze?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=home_headlines.

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Maretha Uli
The Jakarta Post-PREMIUM

Jakarta
Thu, October 22, 2026

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Continue reading: Haze crisis debate heats up ahead of ASEAN summit

“Indonesia is a polite and patient nation. Our country is often insulted, but believe me, Indonesia will not tolerate being continually provoked,” the President said before a cabinet meeting marking his second anniversary in office.

Prabowo, whose approval ratings have plummeted to the lowest level ahead of the anniversary, said he had instructed law enforcement agencies to investigate the fires, with support from the military and intelligence services.

He described the cause of the fires as “not purely natural” and called deliberate burning “environmental terrorism”.

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On Thursday, the President said authorities had found indications linking several foreign companies to the ongoing fires and vowed to revoke the permits of companies found to have violated the law, adding that Indonesians could take over the management of affected plantations.

Prabowo’s remarks came amid mounting domestic and international criticism of Indonesia’s handling of the haze crisis and spreading wildfires.

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Affected Indonesians have urged the government to do more to put out the fires, while several ….

Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2026/10/23/haze-crisis-debate-heats-up-ahead-of-asean-summit?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=home_latest.

Yerica Lai
The Jakarta Post PREMIUM

Jakarta
Fri, October 23, 2026