Malaysia urged the Indonesian authorities Monday to punish companies that caused the haze choking the region, sending pollution indexes to hazardous levels. "Go ahead, take action even though it's a Malaysian company," said Malaysian Health Minister S. Subramaniam. "Whether the company is Malaysian or Singaporean or Indonesian, they are operating within Indonesian soil, so if Malaysian companies are fouling... please do whatever you have to do under your law," he said in Kuala Lumpur, according to DPA. The Indonesian authorities named eight palm oil plantation companies that are subsidiaries or owned by Malaysian corporations as among those suspected to be responsible for forest fires in Sumatra. Classes in primary and secondary schools in several Malaysian states, including the capital Kuala Lumpur, were suspended Monday as smoke from the fires enveloped most of the peninsula. Singapore was also badly hit by haze from the forest fires.
