The number of forest fires on Indonesian Borneo has nearly doubled due to land clearing amid fears that hazy skies could return to the region, official said Wednesday.
Forest fires from Indonesia caused by traditional farming methods have been blamed for the choking haze, which shrouds the region annually during the dry season.
"Our latest data shows that the number of hot spots on Kalimantan island has nearly doubled," Israr Albar, a forestry ministry offical monitoring the forest fires via satellite, told AFP.
He said that some 217 hot spots recorded on Borneo were from land clearing in West Kalimantan province, compared with 122 recorded a day earlier.
The number of hot spots on Sumatra island had decreased slightly to 423 from 557, he added.
Haze from the fires sent air pollution levels in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore to unhealthy levels several times.
Experts warn that the haze contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions and could be impacting on climate change.
