Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia agree to tackle haze

PETALING JAYA: Five Asean countries - Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia - have agreed to tackle the scourge of haze, which has been an annual affair plaguing the region for decades.

The consensus was achieved by the five countries during the 21st Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution held in Brunei on Tuesday (Aug 6).

The five countries pledged to step up preventative measures to minimise any incidence of haze across the region during the dry spell between August till October this year.

They also agreed to step up cooperation in addressing haze pollution across the region effectively, through the implementation of the Hazing Across Borders Action Plan.

“It also agreed to step up regional coordination through the implementation of international cooperation projects involving projects to address haze, sustainable forest management and conservation practices in peat areas, ” said the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry in a press statement issued on Thursday (Aug 8).

The ministry also said that among the ongoing and future cooperation by the five countries were its preparedness to provide technical support in terms of tools and manpower, if there are large-scale forest fires that causes haze.

The five countries, who were members of the MSC, also reiterated its commitment to achieve the target of a “Haze-Free Asean by 2020”, and it will continue capacity development programmes and training among such countries in addressing haze.

At a domestic level, the ministry said Malaysia have implemented the National Open Fire Action Plan, which is a joint-effort involving various ministries, departments and agencies at a Federal and state level, as decided during the meeting of Environment Ministers and State Executive Council Members Responsible For Environment (Mexcoe) in Putrajaya last Aug 2.

“Besides that, various agencies and departments will also enforce the law on offenders who caused open fires and it will strengthen preparation to put out fires to ensure that cross-border haze incident can be prevented, ” it added.

Malaysia was represented by the Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, during the meeting.