Malaysia to raise transboundary haze issue at ASEAN — Channel NewsAsia
Malaysia will raise the issue of transboundary haze at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila next month. Kuala Lumpur seeks to secure more effective regional mechanisms for responding to the problem, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Haze is not covered by disaster response mechanisms
Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said that existing ASEAN mechanisms for responding to natural disasters do not cover haze because it is not classified as a natural disaster. According to him, he will personally raise the issue during the meeting with his counterparts.
Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial confirmed that transboundary haze is on the agenda of the preparatory meeting of foreign ministers ahead of the ASEAN summit.
Fires in Indonesia
Forest and land fires that have been continuing in Indonesia for several months have blanketed neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore with dense haze in recent weeks. This has led to an increase in respiratory problems in the three countries and school closures in some areas of Malaysia, including the southern state of Johor.
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The fire hotspots are mainly located in Sumatra and Borneo. As the outlet notes, these are the most intense forest fires in Indonesia in 11 years. Mohamad Hasan said that his Indonesian counterpart Armanatha Nasir reported extremely poor visibility, which is hindering firefighting efforts from the air.
According to Malaysia's foreign minister, Indonesia has between three and four aircraft and 34 helicopters, but aerial equipment cannot conduct flights due to hazardous visibility in the affected areas. Hasan acknowledged Indonesia's efforts to extinguish the fires while calling on the country to take more effective measures because of the haze's impact on the population.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto separately ordered firefighting efforts to be stepped up, focusing operations in the provinces of Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra.
