Haze: Malaysia awaits response from Indonesia, says Nik Nazmi

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is still awaiting Indonesia’s response concerning cooperation under the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Malaysia has yet to receive any response after sending a letter to the country and hoped to hear from them soon.

"We have not received a response yet. We have sent the letter directly and also to their embassy...we will wait for their response,” he told a press conference at the International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia 2023 (IGEM 2023) here.

IGEM 2023, taking place from Oct 4 to 6 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusoff, representing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday (Oct 5).

Yesterday, Nik Nazmi said that the letter had been sent to his counterpart in Indonesia following instructions from the Prime Minister to coordinate with his Asean counterparts to address the transboundary haze issue.

In the meantime, he said that according to the latest data from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) based in Singapore, there were nine hotspots detected in Sarawak, while in Indonesia, there were 16 hotspots in Sumatra and 193 in Kalimantan. - Bernama