ASEAN countries are to seek an urgent regional solution to the transboundary haze this year in view of the anticipated dry season that will last up to three months starting this month.
Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said he met his counterparts from Brunei and Singapore while attending the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil last month to discuss the possibility of holding the regional meeting on the haze problem earlier than September as originally scheduled.
"Three of us agreed to meet earlier than the scheduled meeting in September," he told reporters after chairing a meeting on the haze situation in Miri, Sarawak, yesterday.
ASEAN'S 14th Meeting of the Technical Working Group on Transboundary Haze Pollution and the 14th Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution are scheduled for September in Bali, Indonesia.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
"We would like to bring it forward a lot earlier, so that we can review each other's strategies. The problem will get worse because the weather will be drier in August and September," he said.
As for the haze in Miri, he said various government departments and agencies had been directed to review their standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure that quick action can be taken on open burning, especially if it involved peat soil.Bernama
A firefighter trying to put out a bush fire at Samajaya Industrial Park in Kuching, Sarawak, recently. Bush fires have turned clear blue horizon into a murky shade of grey as haze descended in the region. Picture: ANN/ The Star
Sunday, July 1, 2012
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