PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should introduce a comprehensive Clean Air Act to hold citizens and businesses accountable when their overseas operations contribute to air pollution, environmental groups say.
Greenpeace Malaysia country representative Heng Kiah Chun said such legislation would deter irresponsible practices that increase fire risks, reinforcing public confidence that environmental responsibility extends across borders.
He said this was recommended by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) in its report titled “Silent Enemy: Haze Pollution and the Right to Clean Air”.
Heng said the haze crisis is also a matter of corporate accountability and governance.
“Malaysia can demonstrate regional leadership by promoting responsible plantation practice and ensuring Malaysian-linked companies uphold the highest environmental standards wherever they operate.”
While acknowledging that the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution remains an important framework, Heng said further action is needed to address recurring haze episodes.
He noted that the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and the National Planetary Health Action Plan put Malaysia on the right track.
These recommendations, Heng stated, were also included in a letter that was sent to Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup.
“The question is not whether another haze season will come, but whether we will act early enough to reduce its impacts on people, communities and the environment,” said Heng.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman endorsed calls for a Clean Air Act, stating it would hold Malaysian entities accountable for transboundary impacts abroad.
“Both governments must explain why they cannot stop this. If Malaysian companies contribute to the problem, our authorities must act jointly with Indonesia to hold them accountable.
“Indonesian enforcement agencies must also act with greater rigour rather than allowing this annual problem – exacerbated by the El Nino phenomenon – to continue,” she said.
Beyond the existing Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, Meenakshi proposed an additional regional platform incorporating civil society organisations.
“Asean environment ministers and the Asean Secretariat must act forcefully,” she said.
This comes as Serian in Sarawak recorded an Air Pollutant Index reading of 521 at 2pm yesterday putting air quality there in the hazardous category.
It is also the highest API reading recorded ever since the transboundary haze episode began in the middle of this year.
