A headline from almost 20 years ago said “Asean ministers to discuss smog problem” – and in 2015, they are still discussing it.
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After talking for so long and extensively, what have Malaysia and Indonesia achieved? The package includes help for health centers dealing with haze-related illnesses, protective gear and equipment for firefighters and advisers from the US Forest Service, who are expected to arrive this week. “They, however, are continually being flouted”. But many smaller ones and the many illegal operations are now the source of much of the trouble.
“Otherwise, both countries usually respond to haze in a very reactive manner”.
“The government (and people) seem to forget the haze as soon as the sky is clear – out of sight out of mind”.
The high school student’s school was closed – like many others across Kalimantan and Sumatra to keep students indoors – but Zaini was out playing football with his friends at Bundaran Besar.
The central government is racing against time to build emergency shelters. “It’s happening at an absolutely breathtaking rate”, Key said.
“We allow babies to stay for up to three days but, for special cases, they can stay longer”, he added. If the air is good, we have clean energy, clean weather…Malaysia also benefits from the forest in Indonesia but if there is smoke, what can we do.
The department of health said the haze, caused by land-clearing fires on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, could trigger respiratory tract infections and heart ailments.
He said this meant that air quality had gone back to normal.
But Malaysia’s hands were mostly tied in the matter, given that the problem and solution remained in Indonesia, said Varkkey. This is one of two Russian Beriev Be-200 amphibian water-bombing planes with 12,000 litre water capacity brought in by paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper earlier this week to support the Indonesian government’s efforts.
The haze has forced the suspension of classes and cancellation of a few flights in Singapore and Malaysia.
“If the enforcement problems mentioned above are not addressed, and if patronage relations continue to reign supreme over laws and regulations, there is little hope to end the years of haze”. Fires are also raging in the Tanjung Puting national park, home to 6,000 wild apes, the Katingan forest with 3,000 and the Mawas reserve, where there are about 3,500 orangutans. “But now is not the time to point fingers but to focus on how we can deal with this quickly”. When burned, it produces the thick, black, and heavy smoke that easily travels across state boundaries. Over half of the fires are burning on peatland, and these fires are nearly impossible to put out.
He said: “I would not want to go to Banjarmasin”.
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OuTrop’s Founder and Director of Conservation, Simon Husson, appealed today: “People are choking in the smoke and one of the world’s last, great rainforests is burning down”. While air pollution from such fires have been a recurring problem for Indonesia, the magnitude of the devastation this year is said to be the worst on record, with the resulting air pollution affecting not only Indonesia and its nearest neighbors Malaysia and Singapore, but also Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Cambodia.
