MIRI (The Star) - Travelling along the Pan-Borneo Highway has become a very dangerous affair as visibility has been reduced to less than 100 metres in some stretches due to the worsening haze, made worse by the forest fires raging all over the state.

The Star on Friday found some stretches of the highway along a 50-km route between Sarawak and Brunei shrouded in thick haze.

In some areas where the forest fires are raging not far from the highway, the visibility has been reduced to such low levels that it is difficult to even see the vehicle that is in front of the driver.

Even the signboards along the highway have become shrouded in haze and smog.

Sarawak traffic authorities have issued warnings to caution motorists of the dangers.

Their notices were posted in strategic places, especially near the Sarawak-Brunei immigration and customs checkpoints.

A check with the Miri traffic police showed that, apart from the Sarawak-Brunei border, visibility along the southern routes of the highway, especially in Niah district, some 120kms south of Miri, was also bad.

"We have issued warnings to motorists along the routes to be extra cautious. The headlamps must be turned on all the time, even during the day.

"There have been numerous reports of accidents because of the poor visibility,'' said a spokesman of the traffic head office in Miri.

The bad visibility has affected trans-boundary travel between Sarawak and Brunei and vice-versa.

The Star reporter found traffic being reduced to very small volumes along the entire Miri to Bandar Seri Begawan route, a distance of some 250kms.

The smoke from wildfires raging along the highway are so thick they produced a choking effect. The visibility becomes even worse at night and in the early morning hours.

A check with the Miri Fire Department showed that there so many fires along the Pan Borneo Highway that the department has lost count.

"We received more than a hundred calls per day for the past one week from residents affected by these fires. We have deployed firefighters to the highway to contain the fires.