Like always, it comes and go and there seems like nothing is done by the government except for the diplomatic talks of persuasions which to a typical Malaysian like me seems painfully slow and ineffective.
Haze has been a perennial problem and periodic nuisance in recent years for Malaysia because of slash-and-burn activities practiced by farmers in Indonesia. Even though there is about 40ha peat forest in Dengkil has been reported burning for the last two days, the majority of the hit spots is in Sumatra, the province that is separated from peninsular Malaysia by the narrow Malacca Strait.
The worst environmental crisis to hit Malaysia is threatening public health and disrupting traffic by reducing visibility, but its impact on the economy has yet to be assessed. A previous haze crisis cost billions. Maybe the haze would have minimal impact on tourism because key destinations such as Langkawi and Penang in northern Malaysia were not so affected.
Maybe under new minister of natural resources and environment, Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas, there will be some changes in term of actions that will be taken between this two neighboring country. Regardless of any offers to send firefighters, disaster-relief teams and cloud-seeding aircraft to Indonesia to fight the hundreds of fires reportedly burning there, there should be a firm decision or actions toward Indonesian.
When haze began blanketing the region in June 2004, Malaysian officials demanded a regional conference on the issue. But Indonesia has refused to sign the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 2002 protocol on Transboundary Haze, saying that Singapore and Malaysia are partly responsible for the haze because of their failure to curb trade in smuggled Indonesian timber.
As a typical Malaysian like me, it is important for the government (maybe together with Singapore government) to take a serious efforts to give a pressure to the Indonesian government to reduce (or even to close down) the unlawful burning of rain forests by farmers and illegal loggers especially in impoverished Sumatra.
Just how bad the problem is in Malaysia remains a matter of opinion for most, however.
1 comment:
transboundary haze had cause Malaysia many problems and losses.. for example during 1997's haze when Shell Bintulu Middle Distillate plant exploded recording a loss estimated at USD100m and 12 person injured.. the investigation reveals that particulate matter from deforestationin Kalimantan had choked the air separation unit at the MHI causing an explosion to happen..
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