Malaysia is seriously polluted by smoke from Indonesia

Malaysia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment G. Palanivel said it is difficult to find a long-term solution to the problem of dust because Indonesia refuses to bring this issue to the ASEAN Secretariat.

>>> Thesmoke from burning forests in Sumatra threatens Malaysia

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on August 29, Minister G. Palanivel said that Indonesia wanted to solve the problem of dust only with Malaysia and Singapore and this issue will also be discussed in the upcoming National Assembly session of Indonesia is expected in December or early 2014.

On August 28, the smoke covered Malaysia's state of Penang with an air pollution index (API) that was unhealthy at 103 at Seberang Jaya at 5 pm.

Malaysians wear masks to deal with dust.(Source: astroawani.com)

Minister Palanivel said that the Malaysian government has offered Indonesia to borrow artificial rainplanes as a short-term solution, but Indonesia can only decide this issue after the National Assembly meeting.

The situation of haze causing air pollution every year occurs especially in the hot and dry summer months, when smoke from forest fires and fires caused by Indonesian people on Sumatra island burn trees for land for cultivation, Malacca pass through Malaysia and Singapore.

The worst case of Malaysia's haze was in 1997 when the API in Sarawak state soared to 839, higher than the danger level of 539, causing the government to issue a 10-day emergency.

In 2005, the Malaysian Government also declared a state of emergency when the API index exceeded 500 at Kuala Selangor and Port Klang.

The most serious haze, with record air pollution in 1997-1998, has caused Southeast Asia to lose $ 9 billion, due to aviation industry operations, and other business sectors. interruption.