Heavy rainfall on Sunday doused 95 percent of forest fires raging in six states and helped lift a smoky haze enveloping parts of the country, said Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting.

But meteorologists warned the respite was likely to be brief, with the current dry spell expected to last until the end of March.

Ong was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying only 880 hectares of land was still burning, compared with 9,177 hectares before the five hours of rainfall.

Most of the fires in central Selangor, the worst hit state, and in Johor, Kedah and Perak had been put out by the rain as well as increased efforts by about 2,000 firefighters, he said.

Fires that hit rubber estates and fruit orchards in Kelantan and Pahang had been brought under complete control, he said.

The environment department said air quality had improved sharply, with only one area in southern Malacca state still showing unhealthy readings Sunday compared with 11 areas nationwide the previous day.

Only scattered showers

But a meteorological department officer said the rain was unlikely to persist, with only scattered showers expected for the rest of the week.

"We are still in a dry period. We expect the weather to improve only when the inter-monsoon season begins in late March or early April," she told AFP .

Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas have been shrouded in smoky haze for more than a week.

On Saturday, poor visibility forced Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to cancel a helicopter ride to northern Perak state and to take the road instead.

He has urged schools to defer sports activities if the air quality continues to deteriorate and ordered his officials to ensure the public was well informed of the air pollution level.