Haze is seen covering eight states out of 13 Malaysian states and Sarawak. Malaysia wants to lend a hand. Will Indonesia accept it? (Image via The Straits Times)

Malaysia to offer assistance to extinguish hot spots in Indonesia

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
Politics
Sep 12, 2019
2654
Dry spell and monsoon wind keep blowing haze from Sumatera and Kalimantan to Malaysia, damaging the air quality in eight states from 13. Through her Facebook post, the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change, Yeo Bee Yin, stated that Malaysia is ready to assist Indonesia in extinguishing the hotspots should it accept the offer.

“Malaysian government is ready to send assistance to Indonesia if and when they accept the offer,” said Yeo.

While offering a hand, the Malaysian government is said to prepare cloud-seeding to alleviate the air quality in these eight states. Malaysian Government also restricts open burning, except for cremation or religious ritual.

Yeo pointed out that the haze in Malaysia was due to the hotspots from Sumatera, while Sarawak, the largest state out of 13, was affected due to haze from Kalimantan.

Malaysian Ministry of Education announced that it had closed 409 schools throughout its nine districts in Sarawak with Kuching as the worst affected area where 60.509 students domicile. With API reaching a “very unhealthy” level, the Sarawak’s residents were ordered to use a face mask at all times.

Sarawak State Deputy Chief Minister, James Masing, demanded responsibility from Indonesia and called for a penalty for Indonesia from the international communities for the haze. However, the condition was alleviated a bit after the API (Air Pollution Index) reading improved from “very unhealthy” to “unhealthy” level.

ASEAN Special Meteorology Center (ASMC) urged Indonesia to extinguish hotspots in Sumatera and Kalimantan to get rid of fire that has been covering Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak. This statement contradicted the statement by Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, that the hotspots came from Malaysia, not Indonesia.

Yeo, enraged by the statement, countered Siti’s statement by saying that the minister should have seen the data before speaking.

“She (Siti Nurbaya Bakar) should not deny anymore. Let the data speak for itself,” said Yeo on Wednesday (11/9).

Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency stated that there were 1,423 hotspots in Malaysia and Sarawak. ASMC, on the other hand, compared that Indonesia had 474 fresh hotspots in Kalimantan and 387 in Sumatera, while Malaysia only had 7. Besides, the wind direction led the haze to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, western Sarawak and parts of the South China Sea

The third-largest state in Malaysia, Pahang, noted its API reading at 232 a “very unhealthy” level. Some Malaysian citizens have been shooting strident sarcasm and criticisms against Indonesia for its haze. The haze is expected to flee by the end of September when the monsoon wind will change its direction bringing the haze with it.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/asia/news/haze-blankets-much-malaysia-1798867

Politics , ASEAN , Indonesia , Malaysia , Environment , Haze , Air-Pollution , Health , Respiration