KUCHING, Oct 4 ― The Indonesian government cannot deny claims that the trans-boundary haze is caused by forest and land fires in their country, said Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni.

He pointed out that data obtained from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) showed that the cross-border haze originated from Indonesia and crossed into neighbouring countries.

"We have statistics showing there are four hot spots detected in Sarawak and 2,203 hot spots detected in Kalimantan for the period from September 20 to 28.

"This is data from ASMC, not from Malaysia, so how can they deny a situation like this.”

He said this when met by reporters after an event at Borneo Cultures Museum yesterday.

He was asked to comment on news reports quoting Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) Siti Nurbaya Bakar as denying the allegations that haze from forest and land fires in Indonesia had crossed into Malaysia and Singapore.

However, Dr Hazland said matters related to the haze situation will be discussed in the next meeting of Malaysia-Indonesia Socio-Economic Cooperation (Sosek Malindo).

"The next discussion will be held in the next few months and we will propose some things, among them, related to the environment in these two countries.

"In addition, we will also propose to the Indonesian government or their business sector to enter the biomass industry.

"Biomass, which can be a source of potential energy, is a new source of income especially for the farmers,” he added. ― Borneo Post