Tackling the haze crisis in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The country is bracing itself for hazy days ahead, with hot and dry weather conditions expected to prevail in the coming months.

Heng Kiah Chun, Regional Campaign Strategist at Greenpeace Southeast Asia noted that the haze phenomenon is primarily caused by peatland and forest fires, both in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.

He said the growth of monoculture agriculture in these countries was a major contributing factor to deforestation and degradation of peatlands, making such areas vulnerable to fires.

“The return of hot and dry weather caused by the El Nino phenomenon is also making the haze situation even worse,” he told Astro Awani.

Authorities have been on high-alert in recent weeks as unhealthy air levels of air pollution continue to rise.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa advised the public to limit their time outdoors and to mask up, while closing their windows to prevent haze particles from entering their homes.

Yet the haze has been a recurring environmental issue for the country, dating back several decades.

In conjunction with Earth Day on April 22, Greenpeace Malaysia held up a banner in front of the Petronas Twin Towers to demand for stronger policies addressing air pollution.

Heng said there were three solutions to effectively tackle this long-standing issue, the first of which was to restore peatland.

“The solution is fire prevention, not just firefighting. So protecting, restoring and re-flooding peatland can solve the root cause of this peatland fire and transboundary haze,” he said.

He also said companies must take responsibility for their supply chain management policies and deforestation commitments.

“Companies must stop forest and peatland clearance, start restoring peatland and demand the same from their suppliers.”

Heng added that it was high time for governments in Southeast Asian countries to work together and enact their own Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

Such an act would be able to hold domestic firms responsible for international environmental misconduct that affects the region.

“A number of Malaysia's own companies were pinpointed for causing forest fires in Indonesia in the past few years.

“Having a Transboundary Haze Act can provide a legal ground to institutionalise check and balance to ensure that our companies are not contributing to the haze locally and abroad.”

Malaysia had tabled its own Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in September 2019, which was dropped by the following administration in 2020 in favour of a more regional approach.

However, Heng said a two-pronged approach that combined diplomacy and accountability was necessary to tackle the haze issue in the long run.

“Forest fires and haze pollution are man-made disasters that could have been avoided.

“What we are seeing now is rich companies getting the benefits, while the people are suffering. This is climate injustice.”