Choking smoke haze from forest and ground fires persisted over several parts of Indonesia as Jakarta came under pressure from its regional neighbours to tackle the annual problem.
Hundreds of Indonesian schools remained closed, flights were disrupted and many residents of Borneo and Sumatra islands again donned masks before venturing out Friday.
"Last night's drizzle helped drop the air pollution index down to 700 but it is still above the dangerous level [of 300]," said Suwardi, the head of the meteorology office in West Kalimantan province on Borneo.
He said morning visibility remained around 500 to 1,000 meters.
Despite warnings from local authorities, small farmers living around the provincial capital Pontianak continued burning scrub to clear land, Suwardi said.
"It is difficult for us to even gently remind them. They will get mad and say that they need to clear land for the upcoming planting season," he told AFP.
Suwardi said many residents – especially motorcycle riders and schoolchildren – were still wearing masks.
On Thursday education officials in Pontianak ordered more than 290 kindergarten and primary schools to close for three days. High schools were told to open only in the afternoons when the haze is thinner.
At Palangkaraya in neighbouring Central Kalimantan, the situation remained similar to Thursday with early morning visibility between 300 to 500 meters.
The haze, an annual hazard for millions of Indonesians and some of their neighbours, is largely from fires started illegally to clear land for replanting.
Malaysian Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding said Wednesday he had written to his Indonesian counterpart Nabiel Makarim, seeking a meeting to discuss the haze problem. Makarim, quoted Thursday by the state Antara news agency, said Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore had complained at the smoke haze blowing over their countries.
Makarim described the problem as serious. He said current fires were smaller than in 1997 but were difficult to handle because some were in peatland and difficult to douse.
In 1997 and 1998, choking haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia blanketed parts of Southeast Asia for months, causing serious health problems and traffic hazards and disrupting airline schedules.
Some parts of the westernmost island of Sumatra have also been hit.
In Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province on Sumatra, at least five incoming and outgoing flights were delayed Friday by thick haze, an airport official said.
Early morning visibility – registered at 200 meters – slightly worsened compared with Thursday, said Rasidin of the meteorology office, adding that motorcyclists had began wearing masks.
Makarim has blamed semi-nomadic small farmers and forest squatters for most of the problem.
"We already have legal measures to deal with forest concessionaires who use the slash-and-burn methods to clear land but when it comes to traditional farmers and forest squatters, we are not ready to deal with them," he said Thursday.
Using fire to clear land has been illegal since 1999 but prosecutions are very rare.