Any announcement on the release of the Air Pollutant Index (API) in view of the worsening haze in the country hinges upon the cabinet approval.

As such, Adenan Satem, the minister in charge of natural resource and the environment, today gave an assurance that he will be raising the matter with his colleagues at the weekly meeting tomorrow.

The government has banned the disclosure of the index after the 1997 haze on the grounds that it drove the tourists away. Since then the index has fallen under the purview of the Official Secrets Act.

Members of the public has since then had to rely on the index released by the Singapore meteorological department to gauge the air quality in this country.

Calls for the index to be released again grew louder after the present haze spell. The government had admitted that the air quality in the country was "unhealthy" and had advised the public to wear masks outdoors.

Today, at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Adenan refused to divulge on what he would advise the government tomorrow.

"I will discuss the matter with the cabinet", was all that he could say.

Ratify pact

Adenan also said that he had been in touch with his Indonesian counterpart on the measures taken by the Indonesian government to put out hundreds of blazes in Riau, Kalimantan and North Sumatra provinces. These fires are blamed for the haze in Malaysia.

"He did not tell me how long they will take (to stop the fires)but our satellite photos show that the hotspots (in Indonesia) are quite substantial, especially in Sumatera," said Adenan.

He added that his ministry will continuously monitor the situation and take necessary steps if the condition worsens.

He also said that Malaysia has requested Indonesia to immediately ratify the Asean Transboundary Haze Agreement which was a regional pact to counter haze collectively.

"All other Asean countries have ratified the agreement," Adenan added.

At the same function, the Director General of Environment Department Rosnani Ibrahim said that her department has prepared a 'Haze Action Plan' which outlines all the steps to be taken at different levels of the air quality.

She said that no drastic actions such as closing down schools or limiting the working hours were necessary for the time being.