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oordinating People'€™s Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said on Thursday that Indonesia had summoned all possible resources in the effort to extinguish and prevent forest fires in Sumatra that may trigger haze to drift into the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore.

'€œWe'€™re always trying [to handle the haze], not to mention our preventative efforts to ward off fires from engulfing Sumatra due to the impact of the El Niño weather system,'€ Agung said on Thursday on the sidelines of an event at the office of the Vice President.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) announced on Thursday that haze from forest and land fires in Sumatra had begun to move toward Singapore and Malaysia.

Malaysia'€™s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry director general, Datuk Halimah Hassan, has sent a letter outlining concerns to Jakarta'€™s Environment Ministry.

Riau, with its extensive peatland areas, is prone to forest fires that frequently create smog that flows into nearby Malaysian territory.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency'€™s (BNPB) data and information head, Agus Wibowo, confirmed on Thursday that the haze had reached the coastal areas near Kuala Lumpur and could potentially move further north into the capital city due to the direction of the wind.

'€œThe haze is already heading to KL [Kuala Lumpur]; it has reached the coast,'€ Agus said, adding that the air pollution standards index (ISPU) in Kuala Lumpur had turned yellow, indicating worsened air quality.

According to a June 26 assessment by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite in Indonesia, hotspots in Riau had increased to 73 from 58 on Wednesday.

Of the 73 hot spots, 34 are located in Rokan Hilir; 20 in Dumai; 14 in Bengkalis; 2 in Rokan Hulu; 2 in Indragiri Hulu; and 1 in Kuantan Singingi.

Agus said the air quality in several areas in Riau province, including in Dumai municipality and Rokan Hilir regency, had begun to deteriorate.

The BMKG had warned that the dry season could last longer than in previous years due to the impact of El Niño, which is expected to start in July. In 1997-1998 Indonesia suffered its worst El Niño spell, resulting in a severe drought and a proliferation of forest fires.

The BMKG has categorized the upcoming El Niño as normal '€” as the temperature was expected to fluctuate no more than 0.5 degrees Celsius. However, he said people should be prepared as it [El Niño] would occur during the dry season when the potential for forest fires is highest.

Agung later called upon everyone, including farmers, to help prevent fires by not burning in forest areas to create fields for their crops.

He also warned crude palm oil companies from ordering the small farmers to burn the forests.

'€œWithout prosecuting those who intentionally burn the forests, the efforts to extinguish the fires will be sub-optimal,'€ he said.

In February to March this year, forest fire-related illnesses affected more than 53,000 people and caused estimated financial losses of Rp 10 trillion (US$834 million) nationwide.