Malaysia to raise haze response gaps at ASEAN ministers’ meeting
Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan says haze falls outside ASEAN’s existing natural-disaster mechanisms, while poor visibility is hampering firefighting in Indonesia.
Malaysia will seek discussions on a more effective regional response to transboundary haze when ASEAN foreign ministers meet ahead of the bloc’s 49th Summit in Manila, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said.
Speaking to reporters in Sepang, Mohamad said ASEAN’s arrangements for responding to natural disasters do not include haze. He said the issue needed particular attention and that he would bring it up personally with fellow ministers.
Mohamad said his Indonesian counterpart, Arrmanatha Nasir, had told him that visibility was too poor for firefighting aircraft to operate safely in affected areas. Indonesia has 34 helicopters and three to four aeroplanes, but they were unable to fly, he said. The country had deployed 60,000 people on the ground.
He said efforts were also being hampered by the remote inland locations of the fires, scarce water and peatland that continued to smoulder. Cloud seeding was not possible at present because the necessary cumulonimbus clouds were missing.
Mohamad acknowledged Indonesia’s efforts to put out the fires and expressed sympathy for its difficulties. He nevertheless said Malaysia hoped Indonesia would take more effective action because the haze was adversely affecting the public.
