Malaysia:
Malaysia called on neighboring Indonesia and a group of Southeast Asian countries to take action as air quality deteriorates across the country due to fires in Indonesia, the environment minister told Reuters on Thursday.
Air quality has reached unhealthy levels in several parts of Malaysia in recent days, with Kuala Lumpur blaming fires in Indonesia – although Jakarta has denied any smoke is blowing across its borders into Malaysia.
Nearly every dry season, smoke from fires clearing land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia blankets much of the region, posing public health risks and worrying tourism operators and airlines. Many of the companies that own these plantations are foreign or listed on a foreign stock exchange.
Fires that caused a haze over 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 sent a letter to his Indonesian counterpart this week about the haze.
“We submitted our letter to inform the Indonesian government and urge them to hopefully take action on this matter,” he said in an interview. “We can’t keep going back to having haze as a normal thing.”
He reiterated that most of the hotspots indicating fires were in Indonesia.
The government has also sent letters to Malaysian-owned plantation companies operating in Indonesia to ensure they comply with the laws and avoid burning, he said.
He called for joint action by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), through legislation or an agreement, to prevent the annual haze.
“I hope that every country can be open to find a solution, because the damage to the economy, to tourism, but especially to health is enormous due to the haze,” he said.
He said Malaysia was still “seriously” considering a law similar to Singapore’s that would make companies liable for air pollution.
But there were concerns over whether Malaysia could prosecute foreign-based polluters, he said.
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