Munirah holds up the National Open Burning Action plan and National Haze Action Plan.
KUCHING: The government will send a diplomatic note to Indonesia very soon on how to address the trans-boundary haze which has greatly affected the country.
Deputy Minister of Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment, Isnaraissah Munirah Majlis said the contents of the note to Indonesia involved urging their counterparts in the country to take immediate action to put out the fires and to take preventive measures to prevent further re-occurrence.
“Malaysia will continue to work very closely with its neighbouring countries, particularly Indonesia, to resolve the trans-boundary haze, and at the ministry level, we are ensuring that a diplomatic note be submitted to Indonesia, which we will be done very soon,” she told a press conference today.
The conference at the Department of Environment (DoE) headquarters here was attended by DoE acting director Ahmad Saifull Salihin and Bomba assistant director Tiong Ling Hii.
Video by Roystein Emmor
She also told reporters that Malaysia has also raised the trans-boundary haze issue during the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) and Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Tans-boundary Hazs Pollution meeting on Aug 6 this year.
According to her, the meeting was attended by Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, where an agreement was reached to monitor and to increase preventive measures to minimise the trans-boundary haze during the current dry spell from August to October.
Asked if cloud-seeding was on the cards, Munirah said the government was waiting for input from the Meteorological Services Department.
“For cloud-seeding, we are waiting for input from the Meteorological Services Department because to do that (cloud-seeding) we have to ensure the availability of clouds and whether it is effective or not,” she pointed out.
Munirah also urged DoE to increase enforcement and surveillance to prevent open burning, while at the same time advised the public not to carry out such activities.
She said those found guilty for carrying out open burning would face a fine of RM500,000 or five years imprisonment or both under Section 29 (A) of Environmental Quality Act 1974.
Munirah further said that the National Open Burning Action Plan and National Haze Action Plan have been activated to coordinate action among the government agencies to address open burning and haze issues.
Meanwhile, Saifull added that investigation papers were currently being opened on two companies found to be carrying out open burning activities.