SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Visibility plunged to 50 metres in parts of Borneo island on Saturday and Singapore recorded its highest pollution reading in nearly a decade as fires in Indonesia sent acrid smoke across Southeast Asia.


Singapore issued its first haze-related health warning this year. The daily air pollution index hit 128, the National Environment Agency said on its Web site (www.nea.gov.sg). A reading above 100 is rated unhealthy.

In Central Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, visibility in some places had plunged to 50 metres (165 ft) governor Agustin Teras Narang told Elshinta radio.

Hundreds sought medical help for respiratory problems, with more than 500 fires counted from satellite images. Malaysia also reported unhealthy levels of smoke in many areas.

Purwasto, head of forest fire control of Indonesia's environment ministry, said experts would go to Central Kalimantan on Sunday to assess the situation.

"The worst situation is in Central Kalimantan now. Most areas in the province contain peat", he told Reuters. Peat can burn for years and produces thick smoke.

"We cannot estimate the extent of the fires now."

This year's worsening haze has rekindled memories of a choking cloud of smoke that covered large areas of Southeast Asia in 1997-98, sickening large numbers of people and costing local economies billions of dollars.

The smoky haze occurs every year during the dry season on the Indonesian island of Sumatra as well across large parts of Indonesia's portion of Borneo, prompting protests from neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore. 


WAITING ON A WIND CHANGE

"Frustration is an understatement," Malaysia's Environment Minister Azmi Khalid was quoted on Saturday as saying by the Star newspaper, as haze in Kuala Lumpur also hit unhealthy levels.

Timber and oil palm plantation companies are accused of lighting fires to clear land for planting. But the fires sometimes get out of control and spread into forests or set large areas of peat on fire.

Farmers, too, use slash-and-burn methods, a traditional practice magnified by a growing population, demand for land and vast areas of forest that have been cleared in recent decades. Air pollution in Malaysia's worst-hit area of Sri Aman in Sarawak improved to 131 from a very unhealthy level of 221 on Friday.

Kuala Lumpur recorded a reading of 108 at 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) but the Meteorological Services Department said there could be relief with a change in wind direction on Sunday.

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said hospitals and clinics in the state were treating about 200 cases of respiratory illness daily, up from the normal 40 to 50 cases. Authorities have distributed more than 200,000 masks to the public.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday Southeast Asian countries must take concerted action to set up a sizeable fund to tackle the annual blazes.

"The haze will recur during the dry season. It cannot be resolved by one government alone. For example, we cannot enter Indonesia without their consent.

"They give a commitment but we believe that they lack the resources or have limited capacity," he said, adding there had been discussions on the joint fund but with no agreement. 


ASH RAINS DOWN

In South Kalimantan, Indonesia's Antara news agency said smouldering ash from uncontrolled forest fires rained down on the town of Sampit for a second day on Friday, triggering fires.

A spokeswoman for Singapore's National Environment Agency said Saturday's air pollution reading at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) was the worst for a 24-hour period since 1997, when the index reached 138.

"It appears that the wind direction for the next few days will be headed this way," the spokeswoman told Reuters.

The agency said satellite pictures showed 506 hotspots and thick smoke haze in Sumatra, mainly in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra. (Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia in Jakarta and Syed Azman in Kuala Lumpur)



To view more images on the situation of the fires and haze, please click on the link below.