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Air
quality has hit unhealthy levels in several parts of Malaysia in
recent days, with Kuala Lumpur blaming fires in Indonesia --
though Jakarta has denied detecting any smoke drifting over its
borders into Malaysia.
Almost every dry season, smoke from fires to clear land for palm
oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia blankets much of
the region, bringing risks to public health and worrying tourist
operators and airlines. Many of the companies that own these
plantations are foreign or foreign-listed.
Fires that sent haze billowing across the region in 2015 and
2019 burned millions of hectares of land and produced
record-breaking emissions, according to scientists.
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Malaysia's minister of natural resources,
environment and climate change, said he has sent a letter to his
Indonesian counterpart this week on the haze.
"We submitted our letter to inform the Indonesian government and
urging them to hopefully take action on the matter," he said in
an interview. "We cannot keep going back to having haze as
something normal."
He reiterated that most of the hotspots indicating fires were in
Indonesia.
The government has also sent letters to Malaysian-owned
plantation companies that operate in Indonesia to ensure they
comply with laws and prevent burning, he said.
He called for joint action by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) either through legislation or agreement to
prevent the yearly haze.
"I hope that every country will be able to be open in order to
find a solution because the damage to the economy, to tourism,
but especially to health, is immense from the haze," he said.
He said Malaysia was still "seriously" considering a law similar
to Singapore that holds companies liable for air pollution.
But there were concerns over whether Malaysia would be able to
prosecute polluters based overseas, he said.
(Reporting by Danial Azhar; writing by A. Ananthalakshmi;
Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
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