Malaysia’s willingness to help Indonesia fight the transboundary haze is commendable, but helping is not the same as turning a blind eye to those responsible.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said Malaysia prefers assistance and bilateral cooperation over legal action against Indonesia. However, Asean solidarity cannot become an excuse for weak enforcement, nor can cooperation replace accountability.
Indonesia remains bound by the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which requires parties to take measures to prevent and control transboundary haze. Indonesia needs to enforce its laws against plantation owners and companies that use open burning to clear land, instead of allowing neighbouring countries to suffer the consequences of fires originating on its territory.
Why should Malaysians and other Southeast Asian neighbours continue bearing the health risks, school closures, inundated hospitals and economic disruption caused by haze while those responsible for the fires escape scrutiny?
Malaysia also needs to act within its own jurisdiction. The Cabinet can direct the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry to work with the Attorney General’s Chambers to review existing laws and draft new legislation or amendments, where necessary, to hold Malaysian citizens and permanent residents accountable if they own plantations in Indonesia responsible for land clearing by fire, subject to the applicable legal requirements.
We cannot keep putting out fires year after year while failing to address those who start them. Firefighting assistance may ease the immediate crisis, but effective enforcement ensuring those responsible face appropriate consequences is essential to prevent a repeat. These approaches are not contradictory.
If plantation owners can profit from land clearing by fire while Malaysians pay the price through polluted air and disrupted daily lives, where is the justice?
Malaysians deserve clean air and lasting solutions, not another haze season followed by another round of promises.
Tan Gim Tuan
MCA Urban Affairs Bureau Chairman
MCA Selangor State Liaison Committee Deputy Chairman
