KUALA LUMPUR – The government has resorted not to introduce a Transboundary Haze Act as it feels it would be more convenient to deal with the matter diplomatically, said Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
The environment and water minister today told Parliament that enforcing a law involving a neighbouring country could prove a stumbling block due to security reasons, as it would involve foreign intervention and the retrieving of sensitive data.
“Although there is a need for such an act, it is easier for us to take the approach of negotiating with our neighbours,” he said during his ministry’s winding-up of the royal address.
He was responding to Yeo Bee Yin (Bakri-PH) on the necessity to introduce a Transboundary Haze Act to prevent local companies operating in countries like Indonesia from taking part in open burning activities that contribute to haze.
Tuan Ibrahim said even if Malaysia was to gazette such a law, there will still be constraints, particularly in obtaining data and information from foreign countries.
“That is why we have taken the approach to meet, negotiate, and resolve together. The haze doesn’t only involve Indonesia.
“We have to also maintain our relationship with other Asean countries. I feel this approach is far more harmonious than enacting an act which cannot be implemented.”
Yeo then said that her suggestion is for local companies operating in the plantation sector in foreign countries to provide their satellite locations in order to identify the source of forest burning that lead to the haze.
She said the proposed act would also compel these companies to provide reports on the foreign lands that they intend to purchase and whether they have a history of slash-and-burn practices.
She added that the act aims to make local companies bear greater responsibility for their actions, rather than merely for enforcement.
To this, Tuan Ibrahim said there are many peatlands in Malaysia that similarly tend to catch fire, while reiterating the government’s stand to approach the matter on haze diplomatically.
Earlier, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Port Dickson-PH) had also raised a similar point, while urging the government to introduce a policy that will see companies contributing to the haze pay compensation to affected Malaysians.
Under the previous Pakatan Harapan government, a Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was proposed, although the plan was shelved following the change in administration in 2020. – The Vibes, March 15, 2022
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