T

his haze problem is a perennial issue affecting Malaysia and Singapore, and leaders of both countries have been sending letters year in, year out to their Indonesian counterparts expressing frustration over their continued inability to resolve it.

The detrimental impact of the haze on the health and economy of Malaysians and Singaporeans have also been discussed over the years at ASEAN meetings but there seems to be no concrete solution so far.

The API reading at Sri Aman, Sarawak on Monday (Aug. 24), was 129, while Kuching and Samarhan recorded 126 and 118 respectively.

The Indonesian authorities cannot be giving the same old lame excuses that the haze is caused mainly by Malaysian and Indonesian companies. The question Malaysians want answered is what are the enforcement authorities doing to enforce stiffer penalties on those companies.

Indonesia must get cracking in making plans for cloud seeding operations to extinguish the forest and plantation fires in South Sumatra and West Kalimantan that have shrouded Sarawak in foul-smelling haze yet again.

The fires which have been raging for days need to be controlled otherwise the pollution will climb to really unhealthy levels. Besides affecting people'€™s health, especially those who have asthma or breathing difficulty, the haze problem is also impacting on the tourism industry.

Malaysian natural Resources and Environment Minister Dato'€™ Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar must push his Indonesian counterparts to regionally minimise this annual problem with long-term solutions. Inability to solve it is also raising concern about the effectiveness of our leadership.

'€” C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu
The Star/ANN
Seremban, Malaysia