THE Association for Community and Dialogue would like to thank Resya Hani Ahmad of Institute for R&D of Policy for highlighting the critical silent killer nature of air pollution in the country in the New Straits Times yesterday.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollutions caused up to 6,251 deaths in Malaysia as of 2012.

Air pollution is responsible for one out of every nine deaths in Malaysia making it one of the top causes of death.

The latest air pollution in the west coast of the peninsula and west Sarawak was due haze from fires in Indonesia. Local open burning is also the cause of haze in Pahang and southern Terengganu.

It is obvious the issue of pollution and its impact on Malaysia has not been addressed effectively.

There is a need for the Pakatan Harapan government to review and shed light on the real causes of air pollution through an ethical and honest dimension that is free of mere financial calculations.

It seems that the transboundary agreement between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia on haze has to be reviewed again since there is a recurrence.

It is disappointing to see reports on deaths on air pollution coming up from international bodies like WHO, instead of our own institutions. We don’t even have state level statistics of deaths due to air pollution.

Since the issue of air pollution has a national and transboundary aspects and Malaysians have been the victims, it is vital that the Malaysian government takes the lead in declaring air pollution as a form of environmental terrorism.

The issue of air pollution in this country needs to be reframed, since the deaths due to air pollution has not been properly accounted.

There is a need for environmental justice especially for those vulnerable poorer communities who are victims since they use the cheaper mode of transportations such as motorcycles and bicycles.

The laws on open burning need to be strengthened and the need to review our transportation policy, to see how it contributes to air pollution.

The overwhelming fleet of cars in the roads and current suggestion of legislating ride-hailing service Go-Jek would only continue to increase air pollution in the country.

Policy direction on the environment is critical for our future generation. – August 30, 2019.

* Ronald Benjamin is the secretary of the Association for Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.