KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) expects the haze currently affecting the country will not last long given the frequently changing wind patterns, said Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
He added that cloud seeding operations will be carried out if the Air Pollution Index (IPU) continues to deteriorate recording a reading level of between151 and 200 for over 24 hours.
“The ministry through MetMalaysia is ready to carry out seeding operations under the coordination of the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) subject to suitable atmospheric conditions.” he said in response to questions regarding the haze situation in the country in the Dewab Rakyat, today.
He said MetMalaysia also provides a forecast of up to five days of cross-border haze movement based on the Haze Movement Prediction Model which is Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) and Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS).
“The output of the haze movement forecast is also communicated to the public through the MET Malaysia website http://bencana.met.gov.my.”
At the same time, he said, the open burning situation throughout the country is under control and there are no large-scale open burning cases that cause local haze to occur throughout the haze period that is currently affecting the country.
“For the period up to Sept 30, a total of 3,922 complaints of open burning cases have been received by the Department of Environment (DOE) with 80 per cent of the cases involving the burning of garbage and until last July, only six large-scale open burning cases in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah between March and last July.”
The number of hot spots in the country this year also decreased significantly, to 714 spots compared with 2,091 in 2019, this decrease was due to the impact of integrated enforcement activities carried out by the DOE to combat open burning.
He said in addition to that next month, the country is expected to enter the Northeast Monsoon phase which brings consistent winds from the South China Sea at between 20 and 30km per hour.
The heavy monsoon rains that are expected to occur especiallyin the East on the coastal states of Peninsular Malaysia and Western Sarawak, will help to eliminate the problem.
Meanwhile, in the closing session of the information session, Nik Nazmi said the government will study the need to enact the Transboundary Haze Act because it involves technical and international legal issues.
He said, to implement the act is quite difficult and challenging if it involves a unilateral agreement.
“However, we will study the need for the Act so that we can see how to take action if necessary,” he said.
Touching on the government’s actions against parties that cause cross-border haze against this country, Nik Nazmi said that for now, the Malaysian government is taking a diplomatic approach towards any party related to the matter.
“So far, we have not made a claim for damages against any country or any company regarding the cause of the haze. We are negotiating and agreeing to find a solution to the matter,” he said.
— Bernama
