It was only last week that I reported to the Jabatan Alam Sekitar in Selangor regarding the acrid burning smell enveloping Kota Kemuning for the past week.

The Bilik Gerakan personnel confirmed that there had been open burning of the agricultural land in Johan Setia, Klang.According to the personnel, JAS and the fire service department were looking into the matter.

On Feb 7, Kota Kemuning smelled and looked like the haze was back. Many children and adults were down with throat infection and other lung ailments. We had to stay indoors and sealed our doors and windows.

After doing some research, I found out that every year without fail, Johan Setia has been in the limelight with news reports about the burning of land for agricultural purposes. It is sad that while we are pointing fingers at our neighbour Indonesia for the yearly haze we experience, the practice of burning land for agricultural purposes is extensively practiced in our own backyard.

Ask any resident living in Bandar Baru Klang, Bandar Botanic, Bukit Tinggi Klang, Kota Kemunng, Kemuning Utama etc, and they will tell you that we have to endure dangerous air quality every time it's harvest time for the farming community in Johan Setia. When will it ever stop?

It's only when the media exerts pressure on the authorities will the latter look into this matter with the utmost urgency. Otherwise, they will be dragging their feet and the poor residents of the nearby townships will continue to suffer the high cost of medical bills not to mention living with the poor air quality.

I sincerely hope that the media will highlight this issue to the general public to let them be aware of what is going on in Johan Setia and to find out why the problem has yet to be resolved after so many years.