No end to forest fire woes

Forest fires raging in Kuala Baram district, near Miri.

MIRI: The forest fires are raging on and the city is shrouded in a thick veil of smog yet again.

The people here are fed up of the pollution.

This time, the fires rage on in Kuala Baram district, about 25km north of Miri city.

Firefighters from the Miri Fire and Rescue Department are once again busy on the ground tackling the fires.

Also, until now no one has been penalised for causing these forest fires.

Firefighters have doused fires on large tracts of land in Kuala Baram district but there are three huge hot spots still burning.

Miri Fire and Rescue Department chief Supt Law Poh Kiong said aerial water bombing was being carried out by the Heli Bomba teams.

Miri and Kuala Baram districts are plagued by forest fires and haze.The last major fire and haze here was only two months ago, from May to June, with the Air Pollutant Index in Miri and Kuala Baram exceeding the 300 level. – By STEPHEN THEN