KUCHING: There should have been no more haze after 2017, if only the assurance by the Indonesian authorities were fulfilled. Former Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Indonesian delegation in 2017 assured Asean ministers that there would be no haze from 2017 and through to 2020 and beyond.
“Beyond this during the Singapore 4th Dialogue in 2017, I met the Governor of Riau and Jambi who assured me that there would be no more haze after 2017,” Wan Junaidi told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
The Malaysian National Haze and Dry Weather Committee was formed by and under the Natural Resources and Environment and chaired by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia.
“I called for this committee to convene in anticipation of haze and dry season in May of the year. The members represented the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government and Department of Environment, Department of Meteorology, police, army, air force, Fire and Rescue Department, Forest Department, representatives from Sarawak and Sabah, and other relevant departments.
“The Metrological and Environmental Departments would brief on the forecast weather for the forthcoming months of June to September.
“The minister would give direction to all ministries and departments on the need for preparedness,” he explained.
He said many instructions were given during this time, including restricting open burning, compound, and communication with Indonesia to be re-established at the departmental level, ministerial level (administrative) and finally the government-to-government level (diplomatic).
Wan Junaidi said after the fires in 2015, the Indonesian government formed a task force comprising the police, army and provinces enforcement units in Indonesia in 2016 to extinguish fires wherever they occurred.
He said Indonesia ratified the Asean Transboundary Haze Agreement of 2002 in 2015 after a long delay. He said with this ratification, Indonesia was obligated to comply with all the terms enumerated in the agreement, including to manage the peat land and forest, to prevent forest fires and extinguish fires whenever they happened.
He said the Asean Ministerial Committee established the Asean Transboundary Haze Steering Committee comprising Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei to make detailed studies on what to do next. “The committee agreed on the ‘Asean Free of Haze in 2020’ road map and the establishment of the Asean Monitoring Centre,” said Wan Junaidi.
