KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia has given its assurance that there will be no recurrence of the haze in 2017.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said this was the assurance given by the republic at the 19th Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution today.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
“Last year, scientific monitoring showed that Malaysia suffered only two days of bad haze while Singapore had three days, a significant improvement from the worst haze we had in 2015.
“Indonesia took systematic actions in 2016 based on the Roadmap on Asean Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control with Means of Implementation, which led to the improved conditions last year,” Wan Junaidi said.
He said in case haze pollution occurs this year, Malaysia is prepared to assist the Indonesian government in tackling the situation if the latter needs it.
“I already have instructions from the Prime Minister. Our bombardier and Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) teams will be made available if the need arises," he said.