Decisiveness needed to tackle haze

Decisiveness needed to tackle haze

Sin Chew Daily, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

Thanks to the repeated forest burning in Sumatra, people in
Peninsular Malaysia, particularly those living on the west coast,
have to suffer the consequences of haze all over again.

This is indeed something really annoying. The ignorance of
Indonesian farmers has taken its toll on the health and well-
being of citizens in neighboring countries. The economic
development in neighboring countries, tourism sector in
particular, will be affected. Fortunately, the haze has yet to
impact on our transportation this time round, or the consequences
can be grave.

We should not overlook the issue of haze. Think about it: This
haze appears almost regularly each year, and the place most
seriously affected is none other than the densely populated west
coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Whenever the haze appears, almost
half of our population will experience respiratory upset. If the
situation is allowed to deteriorate to an unhealthy state, our
socioeconomic developments will also be stalled.

However, our government has shown unmatched leniency when it
comes to the issue of forest burning by Indonesian farmers. When
the U.S. offered to despatch its troops to patrol the Straits of
Malacca, the government's reaction was one of absolute rejection.
But to the haze problem, which comes annually to intimidate the
health of Malaysians as well as the country's economy, the
government has been largely unperturbed and forgiving.

Nevertheless, it is wrong to say that the Malaysian government
has taken the haze issue too lightly. Our environment department
classifies the air pollution index as a top national secret that
must not be released to any living soul. As if that is not
enough, heads of various government departments have also
"reminded" the local media that the government has decided not to
publish the API figures because the figures could very well be
"manipulated" by foreign media to impact on our tourism industry.

Such measures have pointed to the fact that the government has
indeed placed a lot of "concerns" on the haze problem. What the
government lacks is the capability to decisively resolve the
issue and prevent the thing from getting worse.

If we choose to bury our heads inside the sand in the name of
protecting the country's tourism industry, what will happen if
uninitiated tourists flock into the country just to find that the
actual situation is not quite like what they have been told? Is
the government not worried that disgruntled tourists will accuse
the government for deceiving them?

The government should publish the API as it is, and suitably
advise the public what should be done with each level of the
index. We must also take adequate preventive measures to overcome
whatever that may befall us when and if the haze situation
worsens. This is what a responsible government should do.

If the government shows some degree of responsibility, not
only will it win the hearts and souls of all Malaysians,
foreigners will also have faith in our country.