SIBU: The proposed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indonesia to tackle transboundary haze is still hanging in the air.
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday said there had been no response from his Indonesian counterpart on this matter.
“There is no light seen at the end of the tunnel, yet. We have, through the Department of Environment, communicated with Indonesia.
“I wrote a letter on Jan 18, 2016, to request for a meeting, but there is no response, so far. The standard reply is `we’re still studying the MoU’,” Wan Junaidi told The Borneo Post.
Last year, raging forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan had Malaysia and Singapore shrouded in haze for months. The Air Pollutant Index (API) touched unhealthy levels, forcing schools and airport runways to close.
Meanwhile, Bernama recently quoted Wan Junaidi as saying the government mulled raising the compound fine imposed on those who committed open burning in a bid to prevent the haze situation in the country from becoming rampant.
The compound fine for open burning is fixed at RM2,000, and the amount seemed inappropriate compared to the scale of the open burning. Wan Junaidi has ordered the Department of Environment to conduct a detailed study on the matter and to look into more suitable penalties.
In the case of big firms, Wan Junaidi was quoted as saying those earning big profits should be slapped with heavier fines.