Malaysia should take firm stand on haze, says EPSM

The Star 23 Jul 13;

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should follow Singapore’s no-nonsense attitude in confronting the annual haze menace, says the Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia (EPSM).

According to EPSM president Nithi Nesadurai, the response from the Singapore Government was strong and swift following the choking smog that enveloped the country last month.

“We, on the other hand, seem to have a very accepting and understanding attitude, even during the years when we bore the worst of the haze,” he told The Star.

Nithi said such an attitude did not give Indonesian authorities a sense of urgency to resolve the issue permanently.

“We should take a firm stand. We have a very good relationship with Indonesia, and we should use it to express our frustrations when we need to.

“It’s not about saying nice things to each other all the time,” said Nithi, who also called for a more proactive instead of reactive stance from Asean nations.

Pointing out that the intergovernmental ministerial steering committee meeting should have taken place earlier in the year instead of after another haze episode, he argued that preventive action was possible, noting the “crystal clear skies” over Malaysia when it hosted the 1998 Com­monwealth Games as opposed to the horrific haze the country experienced in 1997.

“This is the time every year when they start clearing forests. But it’s only when the haze appears that everyone starts running up and down,” said Nithi, who also condemned those conducting local open burning, adding that they could not possibly be ignorant that such activities were illegal.

173 Hotspots Detected In Riau, Haze Is Back
Ahmad Fuad Yahya Bernama 22 Jul 13;

JAKARTA, July 22 (Bernama) -- The haze is back to blanket Riau and reduce vision Monday morning, to 70 metres at the Pekanbaru Airport, and 800 metres in Dumai.

This was caused by the increase in the number of hotspots detected in Riau, to hundreds, to indicate simultaneously that there was a recurrence in the burning of forests in a number of places in the province.

The hazy situation also affected arrivals and departures of aircraft to and from the Pekanbaru Airport, in Riau.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) of Indonesia said, to date, satellite monitoring detected 173 hotspots in Riau.

This included 69 hotspots in Rokan Hilir, Bengkalis (41), Rokan Hulu (nine), Siak (20), Dumai (12) and one each in Kampar, Pelalawann and Kepulauan Meranti.

BNPB said smoke from the forest fires had badly affected the quality of air in a number of areas in Riau.

BNPB Information, Data and Public Relations Centre head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the agency had coordinated aid to the Riau Government by providing two Hercules C-130 aircraft and four Casa aircraft for cloud seeding operations to avoid the haze disaster.

Water bombing operations were ongoing, using three BNPB Bolco helicopters and a Sikorsky helicopter which could carry 4,500 litres of water to be dropped on the hotspots in Riau, he said in a statement on Monday.

Equipment and soldiers were also in readiness to be mobilised if the situation warranted it.

The peak of the forest and peat fires is from August to October, whether in Sumatera or Kalimantan.

According to BNPB, 99 per cent of the forest fires were due to deliberate burning and in this regard, the agency had urged the authorities to be stern in their enforcement to deter and stop the burning of forests in Indonesia.

-- BERNAMA

Haze back after false lull
Isabelle Lai The Star 23 Jul 13;

PETALING JAYA: The haze is back in the Klang Valley, Putrajaya, Pahang and Johor, and is expected to spread further inland over the next few days, said the Meteorological Department.

Its central forecasting office director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said visibility in the Klang Valley had “reduced markedly” in a day, with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang recording visibility of up to 2.5km yesterday afternoon.

“While this later improved, some areas in Petaling Jaya and Subang still had reduced visibility of up to 3km and 4km respectively,” he told The Star.

As of 5pm yesterday, the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index recorded four areas with unhealthy air quality – Bukit Rambai in Malacca (119), Banting in Selangor (110), Muar in Johor (103) and Cheras in Kuala Lumpur (110).

Readings for Malacca city, Nilai and Port Klang hovered dangerously close to the unhealthy mark at 99, 96 and 94 respectively.

No readings were available for Putrajaya, which the DOE attributed to a technical error at the station.

The return of the haze comes just days after Indonesian Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya said his country hoped to ratify the 2002 Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution early next year after last week’s meeting with four of his Asean counterparts.

The treaty aims to stop transboundary haze by requiring parties to prevent burning, monitor prevention efforts, exchange information and provide mutual help.

At the meeting, the ministers had commended Indonesia for its ability to put out the land and forest fires, resulting in a drastic drop in fires.

Its effort had included waterbombing raging fires on plantations in Riau and cloud seeding.

Last month, air quality levels turned hazardous in some parts of peninsular Malaysia as well as Singapore, resulting in the closure of schools and a spike in respiratory illnesses.

Muhammad Helmi said the haze was spreading at a slow rate with the light wind pattern, which was expected to remain steady throughout the week.

He said the haze had also reached parts of Pahang and Johor, and would move northwards to Perak and Penang.

“The main reason for the spread has been the jump in the number of hotspots in Sumatra,” he said, adding that drier weather conditions in the region would contribute to an increase in Indonesian forest fires.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest reading on Sunday, Sumatra has 261 hotspots.

This is yet another sharp spike from 159 on Saturday, 43 on Friday and three on Thursday.

Malaysia also showed a jump in the number of hotspots to 19 on Sunday from five on Saturday.

The Singapore-based Asean Spe­cialised Meteorological Centre’s latest haze map showed moderate haze had spread from central Sumatra, where many hotspots are clustered together, towards peninsular Malay­sia.

Singapore’s The Straits Times Indonesian correspondent in Jakarta meanwhile reported that two Dumai-bound flights were forced to return to Pekanbaru yesterday morning due to poor visibility from the haze.

It said the airport in Dumai was closed for over a week when the haze last month was at its worst.

Muhammad Helmi said light to moderate rainfall was expected over the Klang Valley and Pahang, and slightly heavier rainfall over Johor after Thursday.

“There will be some reduction in the haze after the rain, but exactly how much haze it clears up remains to be seen,” he said.

Air quality worsens
Hashini Kavishtri Kannan New Straits Times 23 Jul 13;

RIAU FIRES: Four areas record unhealthy Air Pollutant Index readings

KUALA LUMPUR: THE air quality in several parts of the country deteriorated yesterday as even more fires in Sumatra were detected.

The number of hot spots also increased, adding to the haze.

If there were only two spots considered "unhealthy" on Sunday, yesterday the number rose to four.

The Department of Environment (DoE) said the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), based on satellite imagery from the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, detected 261 hot spots in Indonesia on Sunday, up drastically from the previous day's tally of 159.

In Malaysia, there were 19 hot spots, with the most being in Johor (seven), followed by Kelantan and Pahang (four each), Perak (two) and one each in Selangor and Sabah. On Saturday, there were only five hot spots in the country.

The haze hovering over the country was mostly because of forest fires in Indonesia.

"Winds are carrying smoke from the hot spots in central Sumatra, in particular Riau province, to the central region of the west coast of the peninsula," the DoE said.

On Sunday, Bukit Rambai in Malacca and Cheras here were the only two areas deemed unhealthy, with Air Pollutant Index (API) readings of more than 100.

At 3pm yesterday, the two areas had increased to 126 and 117. They were joined by Banting in Selangor and Malacca city in the unhealthy category, with API readings of 111 and 105, respectively.

Muar registered 100 on the API.

Two hours later, however, Malacca city fell back into the moderate level at 99, only to be replaced by Muar, which went up four points.

Bukit Rambai (119), Cheras and Banting (110 each) remained in the unhealthy category.

Nilai and Port Klang recorded readings close to the unhealthy level with 96 and 94, respectively.

Fishing folk land poor catch
New Straits Times 23 Jul

MUAR: The return of the haze in the Straits of Malacca forced many fishermen to stay on land yesterday, with only about seven per cent of the 1,000-odd boats here leaving for the sea.

Fishermen cast their nets within three nautical miles off the Muar coast and hauled up fish worth between RM200 and RM500, barely enough to cover expenses, including fuel, wages, food and drink.

Although the sky was sunny, it was hazy, and the condition worsened at noon with visibility reduced to one nautical mile.

Chia Tee Tee, 61, said when he left Parit Jawa fishing village with three assistants at 5am yesterday, the sea was normal.

"A few hours later, haze enveloped the Straits of Malacca, reducing visibility to one nautical mile. It worsened towards noon."

Another fisherman, Tan Yong Hwee, 53, said he and his two assistants fished at the coastal areas, to avoid collision with vessels travelling along international waters because of the hazy condition.

Tan said some fishermen suffered runny noses, red eyes, coughs and skin irritation after being exposed to the haze.

Muar-Batu Pahat Fishermen's Association president Ser Boon Huat said more fishermen would abandon their outings as the haze was expected to worsen in the next few days, according to reports from the Department of Environment.

Ser also called on fishermen to light up their boats during the day to avoid collision with other vessels plying the international waters.