KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin has today called for a Transboundary Haze Act (THA) amid the recent spell, warning that Malaysia may lose up to RM1 billion impact including from losses in tourism and businesses, and the cost of fire-fighting and cloud seeding, cancellation of flights and events, and public health.
The former minister of energy, science, technology, environment and climate change said she has advocated for such an Act since 2019, but this was halted following the change of government from the so-called “Sheraton Move”.
“This act will enable the government to take action against Malaysian individuals or companies that cause haze in Malaysia regardless of where the burning occurred.
“Currently, there are no specific Malaysian laws governing this. Singapore on the other hand passed such a law in 2014,” Yeo said in a statement.
Yeo revealed that both the Perikatan Nasional and the current federal administrations have answered “no” when asked about tabling such a law.
Amid criticisms against THA, Yeo said it can work by incorporating preventive clauses to compel Malaysian companies abroad to make available satellite data for all their premises such as plantations for accountability, and to require new companies to declare new land purchases in high-risk areas and declare how the land was cleared before purchase.
“Greater transparency will serve as a deterrent against Malaysian plantation companies misbehaving in other countries. In addition, it would also help to counter the negative image painted by the developed countries that oil palm plantations are all the same and are the main cause of forest burning in the region (or the loss of Orangutan habitats as shown in the famous ads).
“In short, higher transparency will help us to differentiate the white sheep from the black sheep, figuratively speaking,” she added.
Yesterday, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Malaysia has sent a letter to Indonesia with regard to cooperation under the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution over the haze issue.
He said the letter had been sent to his counterpart in Indonesia following instructions from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to coordinate with his counterparts in Asean to resolve the transborder haze issue.
This comes as Sarawak’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said the Indonesian government cannot deny claims that the trans-boundary haze is caused by forest and land fires in their country.
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.
