Malaysia aims to slap ‘disaster’ status on transboundary haze at Asean meet

SEPANG, Oct 13 — Malaysia plans to raise the issue of transboundary haze at an Asean foreign ministers’ gathering prior to the 49th Asean Summit in Manila, the Philippines, later this month to explore improved regional strategies for addressing the problem. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan stated that the haze issue required special consideration as it was not classified as a natural disaster under existing Asean mechanisms.

"We already have an Asean mechanism for natural disasters, but haze is not included or classified as a natural disaster," he explained to reporters after attending the departure of Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the Bunga Raya Complex. Regarding the current firefighting efforts in Indonesia, he noted that poor visibility was impeding aerial firefighting operations.

"Indonesia has between three to four aircrafts and 34 helicopters, but they cannot take off because visibility is so poor that it is unsafe for any flights in the affected areas," he said. Despite deploying 60,000 people to ground efforts, Indonesia is facing challenges due to the fires' location deep inland, limited water supplies, and ongoing smoldering in peatland areas.

Cloud-seeding operations are also not feasible in Indonesia due to the absence of suitable cumulonimbus clouds. While Malaysia acknowledged Indonesia's efforts to combat the fires and expressed sympathy for the situation, it hoped for more effective measures from its neighbor, as the current circumstances were negatively impacting public health.