Sukar bukti kes bukan alasan tiada akta jerebu, kata pakar

Malaysia has previously considered specific legislation to address transboundary forest fires but halted progress in 2020. Fadhil Md Din, a lecturer at the University of Malaysia's Water and Environmental Engineering Department, asserts that the inability to prove responsible parties for fires outside the country should not prevent Malaysia from enacting special legislation to address transboundary forest fires.

He emphasizes the need for a chain of evidence linking fires, responsibility, smoke movement, and pollution in Malaysia. According to Fadhil, satellite heat spots are only preliminary indicators and insufficient to prove who started the fire. Instead, land ownership data, activities at the fire site, and smoke movement analysis are necessary.

International law expert Salawati Mat Basir also supports the need for a special act, noting that the existing Environmental Quality Act 1974 only applies to open burning within Malaysia's borders. She states that investigations must identify property owners and managers of fire zones, including the possibility of Malaysian involvement through subsidiaries or supply chains abroad.

"We need to know if a Malaysian company or subsidiary has a link there so we can identify who is behind it," she explains. Fadhil adds that Malaysia must strengthen cooperation with Indonesia to obtain land ownership data, property managers, and fire records, as Malaysian authorities cannot enforce power unilaterally in another country.

Both experts discuss the statement by Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh regarding the lack of evidence to identify causes and responsible parties as a major challenge for Malaysia in enacting a special act on transboundary forest fires. He states that identifying information such as fire coordinates, land ownership, and activities of people involved in the area, including evidence linking the fire to Malaysia, is necessary.

However, he affirms that Malaysia will continue diplomatic cooperation with Indonesia and efforts through the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Forest Fire Pollution. Malaysia previously considered special legislation to address transboundary forest fires but abandoned the proposal in 2020 due to feasibility concerns, diplomatic relations, and difficulties obtaining evidence from other countries.

In 2023, the government decided again not to introduce such legislation after considering the views of the Attorney General's Office and legal experts on the challenges of proving transboundary offenses. The government then explained that it does not rule out the possibility of introducing such legislation entirely.