The impact of forest fires

The impact of forest fires

Malaysians are a tolerant lot. But there is a limit to even
this legendary patience when the consequences for health, the
economy and quality of life are grave. And they are grave every
time the pall of suffocating smoke visits the country from across
the Malacca Strait.

Businesses suffer, schools are closed, tourism plunges and
health problems soar. Malaysians are forced to make do
without their daily dosage of tea because they have to stay
indoors, and this is evident with food stalls seeing fewer
customers.

The recurring haze has changed the lives of Malaysians as
quickly as it came. Families are forced to stay indoors. Many
have left the Klang Valley for a longer weekend in
other parts of the country where the air is cleaner. Equally many
are at a loss as to what to do.

Perhaps as frustrating as the muggy feeling is the sense of
helplessness many Malaysians feel over the source of the haze --
the forest fires in Indonesia -- and the denial and cavalier
attitude of some Indonesians toward the suffering here.

Sadly, Malaysians have been on the receiving end of the haze
since the 1997 episode. None of the proposals mooted since then
have been implemented, not even in the good neighborly spirit of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"I have no choice but to run away from Kuala Lumpur," quipped
S.M. Idris, the country's grand old man of consumerism. "I mean,
how can anyone breathe here. The haze has been a recurring
problem for the past 20 years and yet we have not learned
anything," says the Penangite, his words imbued with obvious
sarcasm.

How long are Malaysians going to suffer in silence? Where do
we go from here? Should we accept this as fate and absolve the
Indonesians of any wrongdoing simply because they are powerless
against the fires?

Perhaps we need to give serious thought to a remark by the
head of the Environment Health Department at the Institute for
Medical Research, Dr. Stephen Ambu. During the same conference
where the transboundary haze agreement was signed, he warned that
the emissions of sulphur dioxide, harmful particulate matter and
other chemical pollutants would increase drastically in the
region by 2005 if member nations did not abide by the agreement.

This today sounds prophetic.

SAZAINDRAIS BIN SAJIT
Selangor, Malaysia