TRANSBOUNDARY smoke has once again descended on Malaysia, dispersing pollutants that adversely affect human health, the natural environment and day-to-day life.

In places where the air pollutant index (API) has climbed to a dangerous level, such as Sarawak and parts of Peninsular Malaysia, the smoke is choking and debilitating, especially for children, the old and those with respiratory problems.

This is apart from its other effects such as closure of schools, kindergartens and nurseries; slowing down of businesses; grounding of fishermen; and loss of man hours to sickness and prolonged hospitalisation.

It’s deja vu for many Malaysians as they have endured similar awful experiences since 1997. It is why their patience is wearing thin even as the smoke thickens. Indeed, it is not a season to be merry.

Furthermore, the smoke has given rise to fear, anxiety and even depression as people consider the long-term effects of perennial exposure to it.

Given this backdrop, the ordinary citizens understandably would expect, nay demand, of the authorities a permanent solution to this environmental nightmare. Enough is enough.

In this regard, the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution that was inked in 2002 should help provide an effective and powerful mechanism to prevent and control the haze pollution in the region.

There must be the political will among the regional governments to enforce laws that punish wayward practices, such as the slash-and-burn agriculture of small farmers and more seriously, large-scale burning of agricultural land by big corporations.

Indeed, it has been reported that large corporate oil palm, and pulp and paper plantations are causing deforestation as well as forest fires in Indonesia.

This mode of production is environmentally unsustainable and also contributes to climate change that has detrimental effects on planet Earth.

It’s counterproductive for governments, as in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia, to get into the blame game because at the end of the day, it doesn’t benefit the ordinary folk at all. The buck must stop with the parties concerned. 

Nor is it comforting to hear conflicting reports of subsidiaries of palm oil-related Malaysian corporations being involved in mass-scale burning in Indonesia. At least one such company is linked to the Malaysian government.

The image of Malaysia, particularly its palm oil industry, would be sullied if any company is indeed implicated in this infernal nuisance.

Be that as it may, the Malaysian government ought to make serious commitments towards reining in any Malaysian company found culpable.

What is also expected of the Asean governments concerned is that they should pull their resources together to overcome this transboundary problem in the most effective and comprehensive manner possible.

These governments owe it to their citizens the responsibility to protect their health and promote their general wellbeing as a way of ensuring that corporate profits would not be made at the expense of ordinary people’s lives.

At the same time, the Malaysian government should also see to it that those who practise open burning within its borders, which is suspected to be happening although on a smaller scale, would receive proper punishment.

Nothing could be more important for Malaysians (as well as other inhabitants of the region) than to have the sickening smog lifted off the sky as soon as possible. – September 15, 2019.