(Sept 30): Indonesia's President Joko Widodo said it would take three years to put an end to the annual forest fires in his country which has been causing smoke to blanket the region annually in the past two decades.

Speaking to the BBC in Jakarta, Widodo, better known as Jokowi, said the annual smog which has enveloped Malaysia and Singapore in the last few weeks forcing closure of schools and airports, was "not a problem that you can solve quickly".

Malaysia and Singapore have offered to help put out peat fires in Sumatera but Jakarta has declined and has mobilised thousands of soldiers in fire-fighting efforts.

The fires have been blamed on plantation companies in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Riau regions who burn forest to make way for planting oil palm trees.

The resulting hazy weather has forced authorities in Singapore and Malaysia to close schools and divert or cancel flights, while Indonesia's Riau province is still in a state of emergency with thousands seeking treatment for respiratory illnesses.

Schools in Johor remain closed today as the air pollution index was still at the unhealthy level.

This morning, much of Kuala Lumpur is at the borderline "moderate" air quality level, while Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Johor, as well as parts of Pahang and Terengganu, are still in the "unhealthy" range.

Indonesia has previously blamed plantation firms owned by Malaysians and Singaporeans for the problem, but the problem which began in the early 1990s, seems to be a recurring affair with little solution.

Last week, it announced that four companies were ordered to suspend operations for allegedly causing forest fires.

Yesterday, at the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesian police chief Badrodin Haiti renewed Jakarta's commitment to solve the problem, adding that 40 cases against peat fire culprits are in the process of being brought to court. – The Malaysian Insider