Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
From Our Readers
Water bombing a more effective fix for forest fires

Recently Singapore recorded a Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) reading of between 195 to 212. In Malaysia particularly in the states of Selangor, Malacca and Johor, Air Pollution Index readings of between 120 to 180 were recorded.

According to the National Environment Agency of Singapore, the official ‘unhealthy’ bandwidth is above 100 and anything above 200 is considered ‘very unhealthy’. In 2013, Singapore recorded a PSI of 401, far above the hazardous mark of 300.

Malaysia and Singapore are the main two countries that are affected due to forest burning activities by irresponsible industrial plantation companies.

It has been decades of practice and had put many lives in jeopardy. Sadly it is not being dealt seriously by the Singapore and Malaysian governments despite the regular Asean meet that they organise. Najib Abdul Razak and Lee Hsien Loong should combat this issue together.

Recently Indonesia’s Vice-President Yusuf Kalla repeated his controversial remarks which he first made in March 2015 that the air pollution issue is just a one-month problem in a year and Indonesia’s neighbours should be grateful for good air quality during the balance of 11 months.

Continuous cloud-seeding and efforts to distribute masks to citizens do not resolve the issue. With a spirit of 1Asean, a joint cooperation between Malaysia-Singapore to assist Indonesia in providing a water bombing service is an effective way to resolve it.

Since Malaysia is the host for Asean Summit 2015, Najib should have been very vocal to resolve the issue once and for all. I am shocked to see that Najib had ignored a very obvious and continuous issue. To me, Najib had neglected the well-being of the Asean community, particularly his own fellow citizens.

ADS