KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — The meeting of Environment Ministers and State Executive Councillors Responsible for the Environment (MEXCOE) today accepted the proposal to create an integrated operation to shut down illegal factories through the cooperation from state governments.

Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the hybrid meeting which was chaired by him also agreed to activate a task force that would be led by the local authority (PBT) and comprises other relevant agencies.

"The task force will conduct the integrated operation at least twice a year. The effort to shut down illegal factories is crucial in preventing pollution especially river pollution and open burning,” he said in a statement.

Tuan Ibrahim said the proposal was one out of five proposals that were agreed upon at today’s MEXCOE meeting.

The other proposals were the handing over of peatland infrastructure assets to state governments under the Peatland Fire Prevention Programme to address haze, and the implementation of government green procurement and green initiatives at the state and PBT levels.

Also, the empowerment of low-carbon cities and climate change actions nationwide, and the development of policies and guidelines related to the country’s carbon market mechanism, he said.

Tuan Ibrahim said in the meeting, he also emphasised that the commitment and cooperation between the federal and state governments were crucial in strengthening the country’s environmental governance in order to generate new wealth and improve the people’s wellbeing towards sustainable development. — Bernama