Who's to blame for the toxic smog choking South East Asia?

ByKoh Ewe Reporting fromSingapore.

Key points

• According to independent forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, 1, 043, 377 wildfire hotspots have been recorded in Indonesia, burning a total of 900, 000 hectares of land.
• Additionally in 2015, Indonesia's then-Vice-President Jusuf Kalla angered Singaporeans when he stated that for 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us.
• Greenpeace additionally named Malaysian plantation group Kuala Lumpur Kepong, whose subsidiary PT Menteng Jaya Sawit Perdana managed land in Indonesia where 19 haze source points were recorded.
• In 2014, Singapore passed the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act which allows the administration to take action against local and foreign firms identified to be contributing to the haze.
• Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has pressed tougher sanctions against slash-and-burn farming, describing the practice as "ecological terrorism".

As Indonesia battles its worst wildfire season in a decade, a toxic smog is choking millions of residents in the region.

In practice, the air on the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra have turned an ominous amber, with air quality recorded at hazardous levels.

For context, the smog – additionally known as the haze – has additionally drifted beyond Indonesia's borders to neighbouring countries, raising public health reservations. It has obscured Singapore's skyline and forced some schools to close in Malaysia.

Now, anger is mounting at the firms accused of burning farmland – as well as the authorities who have struggled to stop them.

Notably, the annual dry season wildfires have been especially intense this year since of an unusually robust El Niño – a natural climate phenomenon which changes weather patterns worldwide.

Plenty of of these fires in Indonesia's forests and peatlands are caused by the razing of vegetation to clear land – a practice known as "slash and burn".

This is an agricultural method that has traditionally been employed by farmers in Indonesia to create nutrient-rich soil for new crops.

But today, plenty of of these fires are associated with commercial farming and are taking place on a much larger scale – and are harder to control. Activists and administration investigations have repeatedly accused some businesses of using fire as a cheap way to clear sizeable swathes of land.

While slash-and-burn farming is illegal in Indonesia, enforcement of a ban has long proven tricky.

But persistent haze this year has prompted Indonesian authorities to step up efforts to punish offenders.

Last month, Indonesian authorities confirmed they had suspended the operating licences of 26 businesses linked to the wildfires and introduced investigations into others. Cases involving criminal elements would be taken to court, authorities vowed.

But it's not just Indonesian firms that have been embroiled in controversy against the backdrop of the haze difficulty.

For context, a Greenpeace report published this month identified businesses based in Singapore and Malaysia which are linked to plots of land in Indonesia where wildfires are burning.

This includes First Resources, a Singapore-based palm oil firm. Between August and September more than 30 haze source points were recorded on land managed by its two Indonesian subsidiaries, according to Greenpeace.

First Resources informed the BBC in an official note that it maintained a "strict zero burning policy across all planting activities and implement robust fire prevention, monitoring and firefighting measures throughout our operations".

Kuala Lumpur Kepong remarked in an official note that a "majority" of the fires originated from beyond its concession area and had all been extinguished.

"We do not condone or permit the use of open burning for land preparation or any other purpose across our operations, " it remarked. 'When there is no smoke, we send oxygen'.

It remains to be seen how effective governments can be in sanctioning offending firms.

In practice, the after year when Singapore saw a bad bout of haze, authorities issued summonses to a number of Indonesian firms thought to have cleared land by burning, in a bid to prosecute them under the new law.

But that drew sharp ire from Jakarta. It remarked the move harmed bilateral ties. And with Indonesia refusing to cooperate, Singapore authorities remarked they could not obtain information concerning the suspected firms.

Additionally in 2015, Indonesia's then-Vice-President Jusuf Kalla angered Singaporeans when he stated that "for 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us. They have suffered because of the haze for one month and they get upset".

Similar tensions surfaced again last weekend when Syahganda Nainggolan. This person leads Indonesia's administration communications agency, stated the raging wildfires were beyond human control and continued that the oxygen in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia "also comes from our forests".

"When there is no smoke, we send oxygen, " he continued, in a video that has been widely circulated on social media, triggering criticism and ridicule from Malaysians and Singaporeans.

But Indonesia has previously additionally apologised to its neighbours for causing the haze.

This year, Indonesian authorities have thanked Singapore and Malaysia for offering to assist tackle the wildfires – though it has not officially requested international backing.

In Indonesia, there have been efforts by civil society to force the administration to take action.

In Pontianak in the West Kalimantan province, a number of groups have filed a class action lawsuit against the Indonesian administration and Prabowo, accusing them of "gross negligence" over recurrent toxic haze.

They want the administration to declare the haze a national disaster. It would allow for recovery measures such as the coverage of healthcare costs.

For context, a similar case was filed last year in South Sumatra, but it was dismissed.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Kalimantan and Sumatra, air pollution levels have remained at dangerous levels for weeks.

There are plenty of who have no choice but to brave the toxic smog every day.

"I'm short of breath and have a headache breathing air now. But I still have to work, " Imrayedi, a 63-year-old motorcycle taxi driver in Pekanbaru city, on Sumatra island, informed BBC Indonesian last week.

"The administration must additionally think regarding the common residents like us. Please take action to find a solution so that this haze difficulty can be resolved immediately."

For now, who' s to blame for the toxic smog choking South East Asia? Remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.