PUTRAJAYA, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has agreed to take the necessary steps to address the haze situation in Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
He said he discussed the matter directly with Prabowo during a telephone conversation today.
“The haze situation is indeed worrying. I personally contacted President Prabowo, and he agreed to take the necessary steps,” he told reporters after inspecting preparations for the tabling of Budget 2027 at the Finance Ministry here today.
Anwar said Malaysia had, over the past several weeks, expressed its readiness to extend any form of cooperation to Jakarta, as the haze situation was causing public concern, particularly over its impact on health.
"We have, for the past several weeks, expressed our readiness to provide any form of cooperation because the haze is worrying and I know it is causing concern over the health of our people.
“Various measures have been taken to reduce its impact. For example, we have been increasing cloud seeding operations almost daily, as well as rainfall operations by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and several related agencies. However, the situation remains worrying,” he said.
Anwar said he had directed Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup to engage their respective counterparts to strengthen efforts to address the haze situation.
He said Mohamad had also been instructed to contact the ASEAN Secretariat to seek coordination for a meeting of environment ministers.
As of 9 am today, 38 areas in Malaysia recorded Air Pollutant Index (API) readings in the unhealthy range, with the highest reading of 187 recorded in Segamat, Johor.
According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), the re-emergence of transboundary haze was caused by 238 hotspots detected in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia, as well as four in Sabah and Sarawak.
The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) also reported that moderate to dense transboundary haze was observed over southern and central Sumatra, Singapore and the southern parts of Peninsular Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA