Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Palanivel will head to Indonesia tomorrow to meet his counterpart Balthasar Kambuaya, to find an immediate solution to the blazes which have shrouded Malaysia in thick haze, besides Singapore and Indonesia itself.

Palanivel said Malaysia was ready to offer technical support to step up action to fight the blazes which resulted in worsening air quality in this country.

"First, we need immediate action to put out the fires. We are ready to provide assistance to Indonesia in the form of manpower, technical expertise, equipment, cloud seeding and water bombers.

"The fact is, the haze has become a national issue. The haze has gone right up to Borneo as there are a lot of hot spots in Indonesia. We need to discuss to resolve the problem," he said at a press conference, in Putrajaya today.

NONE Palanivel ( right ) said the haze problem was a transnational and transboundary problem that had affected health, tourism, business and the economy.

He said the meeting was scheduled for last Friday, but was postponed and rescheduled by his Indonesian counterpart.

"Malaysia has experience in dealing with peat fires and we are prepared to offer our expertise to Indonesia to assist them in solving the transnational and transboundary problem," he said.

Apart from the meeting, Palanivel said the ministry would try to arrange a meeting with representatives of Malaysian-owned plantations in Indonesia which were suspected of contributing to the haze.

"Reports claim that Malaysian companies were involved in the illegal burning activities. Then, the Indonesian government must enforce the law and prosecute them.

"The prosecution part can be done later, but right now the more important thing is to control the forest fires in central Sumatra," he added.

Meeting to be brought forward

Meanwhile the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is proposing to bring the 15th Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee On Transboundary Haze Pollution (MSC) forward from August to July 17.

According to a ministry statement today, the meeting which will be held in Kuala Lumpur is to discuss solutions to the cross-border haze pollution problem.

Apart from that, Palanivel will be discussing the forms of cooperation in managing the cross-border haze problem.

Malaysia will continue to urge Indonesia to ratify the Asean Agreement on transboundary haze pollution which has been established since 2002 as well as improving the effectiveness of action at local levels through the Indonesian plan of action on Handling transboundary haze pollution.

Since June 20, the National Security Council had activated the haze management coordination committee according to the level of alert in the national haze plan of action involving various agencies such as the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, Health Ministry, Education Ministry, Science Technology and Innovation Ministry and the Communication and Multimedia Ministry as well as the fire and rescue department.

- Bernama