Haze problem best resolved through Asean diplomatic channels, says Mohamad

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan has stated that the transboundary haze plaguing Malaysia and other regional countries can be effectively resolved through Asean diplomatic channels. Speaking in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, he emphasized that Asean remains the most suitable platform for tackling regional issues, according to Bernama. The NRES minister, Arthur Joseph Kurup, will also correspond with his Indonesian counterpart regarding the matter.

Mohamad, who is on a three-day working visit to Brunei, highlighted that the 27th Malaysia-Brunei Annual Leaders’ Consultation today will most likely feature the haze issue as a topic of discussion between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. He noted that the haze problem currently concerns both nations mutually.

Sarawak has 10 monitoring stations with air quality levels marked as unhealthy as of 8am. Serian's API reading has returned to 190, while Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu, Mukah, Samalaju, and Miri have reached unhealthy levels of 181, 177, 174, 172, 160, 157, 156 each, 152, and 89 and 77 respectively.