View: Yes, we are fighting the haze together

Thursday September 17, 2009

WITH regard to questions raised in "Join forces to tackle the haze" (The Star, Sept 15), we wish to clarify a few points.

In tackling the haze issues, the Department of Environment is taking serious and continuous actions such as strengthening enforcement on smoky vehicles and industries, open burning and earthwork activities which contribute to local air pollution.

Enhanced fire prevention programmes on peat land areas in Selangor, Pahang and Johor are being undertaken, such as the construction of check dams to retain the water level in peat areas, the erection of watch towers in fire-prone areas to detect open burning, and the construction of ground water wells to put out fires in remote areas. In addition to these measures, during prolonged dry periods, the department also intensifies air surveillance in areas considered high risk to fires.

In a recent meeting related to haze, countries in the region agreed to impose a ban on open burning during this hot and dry period, and to strengthen joint efforts to mitigate the haze problem.

Furthermore, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister wrote a letter to his counterpart in Indonesia recently to offer our assistance in fire fighting should the need arise.

Bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Riau Province, Indonesia, on fire and haze prevention commenced last year.

DR AMERJIT SINGH
For Secretary-General
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Opinion 17 September 2009