Kuala Lumpur, Sep 8 (IANS) ASEAN needs to review and strengthen its mechanism for tackling transboundary haze, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday as poor air quality persists in the region.
The grouping must take the recurring haze problem seriously because it directly affects public health and people’s lives and ensure that its existing mechanisms are translated into more effective action against the sources of transboundary haze, Anwar told a press briefing, Xinhua News Agency reported.
“There is room for improvement. I think the ASEAN ministers must seriously look at it, because this is affecting lives, particularly of children and babies, and if we have seen in Serian, it is really concerning,” he said, referring to a district in the northern Borneo state of Sarawak where an emergency had been declared after air quality hit hazardous levels.
Following the end of the emergency declaration on Monday, Serian’s air quality returned to the hazardous level, with the district recording an Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 302 early on Tuesday.
According to the country’s air quality rating, an API reading of zero to 50 is “good,” 51 to 100 “moderate,” 101 to 200 “unhealthy,” 201 to 300 “very unhealthy,” and 301 and above is “hazardous.”
Anwar added that any allegations of open burning in Indonesia by Malaysian companies must first be thoroughly investigated to establish the actual cause of fires before action is taken against those responsible.
He said Malaysia would respect any enforcement action taken by the Indonesian authorities and would not intervene to protect companies found to have contributed to the haze.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in Thailand’s Bangkok in 1967, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, Cambodia in 1999, and Timor-Leste in 2025 making up what is today the 11 Member States of ASEAN.
–IANS
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