KL fears pollution figures from haze could hurt economy<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nKuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysia said on Thursday air pollution figures would remain a
\nstate secret due to fears the economy would be hurt by revealing
\nhow much smog from neighboring Indonesia had blanketed parts of
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
\"The only problem is that it gets distorted by the
\ninternational media. It then gives a grim picture of Malaysia,\"
\ndeputy prime minister Najib Razak said.<\/p>\n
\"It could be overplayed and then it will have an adverse
\neffect on the economy,\" he added.<\/p>\n
In 1997, at the height of the haze crisis, Malaysia classified
\nthe air pollution index as an official secret.<\/p>\n
Malaysia now only refers to air quality as \"good, moderate,
\nunhealthy or hazardous\" after banning the release of air
\npollution figures for fear it might drive away tourists.<\/p>\n
The tourism sector is Malaysia's second largest foreign
\nexchange earner after manufacturing.<\/p>\n
The pollution index measures the quality of air on a scale of
\nzero to 300. It considers zero to 50 as good, 51 to 100 as
\nmoderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy and 201 to 300 as very
\nunhealthy. Anything above 300 is hazardous.<\/p>\n
Asmah Ibrahim, department of environment air division head
\ntold AFP that the overall situation in the Klang Valley had
\nimproved but in Port Klang, west of here, in the southern Johor
\nstate and Malacca -- the air quality remained \"unhealthy.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysian environment officials blame forest fires in
\nneighboring Indonesia's Sumatra island for the haze which has
\ndrifted to Malaysia since last week from across the narrow
\nMalacca Strait. The busy strait divides the two countries.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday the opposition Chinese-dominated Democratic
\nAction Party (DAP) urged the government to make public the
\npollution index throughout the country to fully minimize health
\nhazards posed by the haze.<\/p>\n
\"It was most short-sighted decision for while Malaysians
\nsupport tourists promotion to bring in tourist revenue, this
\ncannot be at the expense of the health and welfare of the
\ncitizens or those of the tourists themselves,\" DAP chairman Lim
\nKit Siang said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Lim said in the era of information technology, it is sheer
\nfolly for the government to pretend that it could mislead foreign
\ntourists into believing the air in Malaysia is clean.<\/p>\n
Marine police have issued haze alert for seafarers plying the
\nMalacca Strait where hundreds of ships pass through daily.<\/p>\n
\"Visibility in the Malacca Strait has been reduced to just one
\nkilometer from the normal six kilometers due to the haze. I
\nadvise ships and barter-traders to put on navigational lights,\"
\nAbdul Salam Abdul Halim, marine police chief in the southern
\nJohor state told AFP.<\/p>\n
Abdul Salam warned ships to remain alert because they usually
\ntravel at about 15 to 20 knots and with poor visibility, they do
\nnot have sufficient time to avoid a head-on collision and advised
\nfishermen to fish near the coast instead into the open sea.<\/p>",
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