KL fears pollution figures from haze could hurt economy

KL fears pollution figures from haze could hurt economy

Agence France-Presse
Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia said on Thursday air pollution figures would remain a
state secret due to fears the economy would be hurt by revealing
how much smog from neighboring Indonesia had blanketed parts of
the country.

"The only problem is that it gets distorted by the
international media. It then gives a grim picture of Malaysia,"
deputy prime minister Najib Razak said.

"It could be overplayed and then it will have an adverse
effect on the economy," he added.

In 1997, at the height of the haze crisis, Malaysia classified
the air pollution index as an official secret.

Malaysia now only refers to air quality as "good, moderate,
unhealthy or hazardous" after banning the release of air
pollution figures for fear it might drive away tourists.

The tourism sector is Malaysia's second largest foreign
exchange earner after manufacturing.

The pollution index measures the quality of air on a scale of
zero to 300. It considers zero to 50 as good, 51 to 100 as
moderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy and 201 to 300 as very
unhealthy. Anything above 300 is hazardous.

Asmah Ibrahim, department of environment air division head
told AFP that the overall situation in the Klang Valley had
improved but in Port Klang, west of here, in the southern Johor
state and Malacca -- the air quality remained "unhealthy."

Malaysian environment officials blame forest fires in
neighboring Indonesia's Sumatra island for the haze which has
drifted to Malaysia since last week from across the narrow
Malacca Strait. The busy strait divides the two countries.

On Wednesday the opposition Chinese-dominated Democratic
Action Party (DAP) urged the government to make public the
pollution index throughout the country to fully minimize health
hazards posed by the haze.

"It was most short-sighted decision for while Malaysians
support tourists promotion to bring in tourist revenue, this
cannot be at the expense of the health and welfare of the
citizens or those of the tourists themselves," DAP chairman Lim
Kit Siang said in a statement.

Lim said in the era of information technology, it is sheer
folly for the government to pretend that it could mislead foreign
tourists into believing the air in Malaysia is clean.

Marine police have issued haze alert for seafarers plying the
Malacca Strait where hundreds of ships pass through daily.

"Visibility in the Malacca Strait has been reduced to just one
kilometer from the normal six kilometers due to the haze. I
advise ships and barter-traders to put on navigational lights,"
Abdul Salam Abdul Halim, marine police chief in the southern
Johor state told AFP.

Abdul Salam warned ships to remain alert because they usually
travel at about 15 to 20 knots and with poor visibility, they do
not have sufficient time to avoid a head-on collision and advised
fishermen to fish near the coast instead into the open sea.