It’s the hazy season in Malaysia again, with many states currently recording unhealthy indexes of air pollution. Can the haze just spare us Malaysians for once?
With the haze (once again) attacking us, where do we find the source again? According to the Malaysian Department of Environment, the haze is caused by forest fires in Southern Sumatra and Central Kalimantan in Indonesia. At the time of writing, the haze is affecting major parts of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.
However, the Indonesian government does not think that way. The Minister of Environment and Forestry in Indonesia, Siti Nurbaya Bakar denied ALL allegations that claimed the haze in Malaysia was “brought” by the Indonesian forest fires.
Siti assured that the Ministry has been monitoring the condition and the progress at all times.
“We have been monitoring the progress closely, but there is no haze crossing the border into Malaysia.”
The Ministry added that work is being done to eliminate the haze in the country itself.
“We are currently focusing on extinguishing forest fires in some provinces of Sumatra and Borneo by spraying water from helicopters.”
Siti said that for several days, the haze was moderate to dense in several areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan. On Sunday (October 1), the haze thickened in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra. However, she insisted that no cross-border haze took place, as reported by Oriental Daily.
The efforts to extinguish forest fires range from ground firefighting to water bombing and weather modification technology.
“You mean, we caused the haze?”
Malaysian netizens, on the other hand, did not buy Siti’s story and many of them were not surprised that the Indonesian government once again is not “claiming” the haze that struck our country.
“They can deny all they want but can the truth stay hidden? Are they saying that we cause the haze by ourselves? Apologise and improve to get our respect!”
“Who would admit if they mess up?”
“It’s the same thing every year. Why are they still denying it?”
“Their government are always running away from their responsibilities and can’t accept the truth!”
Regardless, we do hope that the haze in their country and in Malaysia can go away soon! Let’s hope this is the last time the haze pays us a visit and in the meantime, stay hydrated!
