KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today urged Malaysians to take care of their health as smoky haze envelops the capital and nearby areas.

“As the haze comes back, take care of your health,” Najib tweeted, as haze moved in from forest and peat fires on nearby Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.
Malaysia's landmark Petronas Towers is covered by thick haze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 24 June 2014. Prime Minister Najib Razak urged Malaysians Wednesday to take care of their health as smoky haze envelops the capital and nearby areas. EPA/AZHAR RAHIM

Malaysia’s landmark Petronas Towers is covered by thick haze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 24 June 2014. Prime Minister Najib Razak urged Malaysians Wednesday to take care of their health as smoky haze envelops the capital and nearby areas. EPA/AZHAR RAHIM

Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Palanivel warned that hot and dry weather, which helps trigger the fires, would continue until September.

He said Tuesday that there were 133 hot spots in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.

Palanivel reminded citizens that open burning is prohibited in the states of Negeri Sembilan, and Melaka as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya since March, in order to ease the haze that plagues the capital.