Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla denied that the smog coming from his country and blanketing Malaysia would hurt relations between the two countries, a media report said Friday. The state-run news agency Antara quoted Kalla as saying that the two sides were working to extinguish some of the fires that are causing the smog and added that Indonesia wasn't causing the problem intentionally, according to DPA. "It will disrupt the ties if the spread is done on purpose," Kalla said. "In this case, there is no such intention." "We have to overcome it together," he said. Leaders of the two countries agreed Thursday to take steps to reduce the smog, coming largely from fires in the Indonesian provinces of North Sumatra, Riau and West Kalimantan. The smoke is causing a choking haze over Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed local authorities to work on putting out the fires and start "dealing firmly" with those who continue to set them while his Malaysian counterpart, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, offered to send assistance. The haze is often blamed on farmers and other landowners who set fire to scrubland and forest to clear it for cultivation. It is an annual phenomenon in Indonesia that worsens during the dry season.
