PETALING JAYA: The Department of Environment (DOE) says it is ready to face any haze problem in the country.
This follows a Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET Malaysia) report that the weather is expected to be dry during the southwest monsoon period.
A DOE official, who declined to be named, told theSun the main cause of haze is open burning activities, especially from gardens, land clearing, construction, peatlands, landfills and garbage.
“Based on statistics, open burning of garbage in neighbourhoods is the most common complaint. A total of 5,198 of such complaints from 5,990 reports were received by DOE.
“The public is advised not to carry out open burning activities,” the spokesman said.
The public is also urged to report any cases of open burning or any activity that emits black smoke by calling DOE’s toll-free line
1-800-88-2727 or through eAduan at https://eaduan.doe.gov.my
The DOE, together with other agencies such as local authorities and Fire and Rescue Department, will monitor any open burning activities as outlined in the National Open Burning Action Plan where all activities related to prevention, monitoring, fire suppression and enforcement are managed.
DOE said a meeting chaired by Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was held on March 31 to discuss the country’s actions and preparations to face the dry season and haze.
The department will coordinate with other agencies to take necessary measures to tackle the haze problem.
These include monitoring, firefighting, cloud seeding and school closures.
“Members of the public must always ensure that their health is not affected if the haze hits the country, especially during the Covid-19 endemicity phase as the standard operating procedures have been relaxed, the spokesman said.
“The community must always monitor the Air Pollutant Index (API) level that can be obtained from http://apims.doe.gov.my/public_v2/home.html or by downloading the mobile application MyIPU.”
The spokesman also advised the public to always wear a face mask when outdoors and recommends the N95 face mask.
MetMalaysia director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said to prevent the expected haze from reaching dangerous levels, authorities must reduce or control open burning activities especially in areas that are prone to fire such as peat soil and waste disposal areas.
“However, what is worrying is that if the haze transcends our borders, it will be out of our control and jurisdiction,” he said.
