MALAYSIA has spoken to Indonesia about its concerns over the impact of persistent transboundary smoke on its people and has offered to help extinguish the forest fires raging in Kalimantan and Sumatera, said Energy, Science, Technology and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.

She said this was conveyed to the Indonesian Minister Counsellor Agus Badrul Jamal and Counsellor for Information, Social and Cultural Affairs Agung Cahaya Sumirat at the Indonesian embassy this afternoon. 

“On the diplomatic front, we received updates from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Zainal Abidin Bakar has met up with Indonesian senior officials yesterday to discuss the transboundary haze currently affecting Malaysia,” she said in a statement on Facebook today.

Yeo said the Indonesian government was coordinating with the agencies to address the root cause of the problem and affirmed its commitment to manage the transboundary haze problem.

She said the Indonesian government had deployed 1,994 personnel in Sumatera, 860 in Kalimantan, and 1667 volunteers to extinguish the forest fires. Sixteen helicopters are in Kalimantan to conduct water bombing while enforcement teams are working to apprehend those responsible for the burning.

The dry spell and the southwest monsoon season has further worsened the impact of transboundary haze in Malaysia. 

Over the last week, the number of hotspots has multiplied in Malaysia while Kalimantan recorded 811 hotspots and Sumatera, 247. 

The peninsula is affected by the smoke from Sumatra while Sarawak bears the brunt of the smoke f Kalimantan, she said.

“The government will continue to do cloud-seeding whenever the situation allows and will send assistance to Indonesia if and when they accept the offer.” – September 10, 2019.