Jakarta – Indonesia abruptly shifted an ASEAN environmental meeting opening on Tuesday to Jakarta from remote Sulawesi due to smoke haze causing a pollution emergency over parts of Southeast Asia.

Indonesia's President Suharto was officially opening the meeting of environment ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Smoke from forest fires in Indonesia's southern Sumatra and Kalimantan on Borneo island has caused massive pollution problems with haze reducing visibility over Singapore and parts of the Malaysian peninsula, including Kuala Lumpur.

Industrial pollution in Malaysia and severe drought in Indonesia caused by the El Nino weather effect in the Pacific Ocean are compounding the problem.

ASEAN ministers were to have flown to Manado on Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia for their four-day conference after the formal opening by Suharto in Jakarta. The main business was due to start on Wednesday.

State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said the meeting was to be held in Jakarta instead because of the state of emergency caused by the fires in Sumatra and Borneo.

The fires, which the government has blamed in part on plantations burning off woodland for rubber planting, are expected to be a top item on the agenda.

The smoke haze is damaging to health and is also posing problems for air and shipping services.

The government has sent a letter to provincial authorities calling for extra efforts to combat the problem, while warning that temperatures would remain high in September and October, up to 37 degrees (99 F), before the annual monsoon season starts over Indonesia.

Malaysia said on Monday it hoped to sign an accord with Indonesia to tackle the problem.

"We have had many discussions with Indonesia, and we are looking at signing a memorandum of understanding to handle this haze problem," Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat told a news conference.