{
  "id": 16268421,
  "title": "Sukar bukti kes bukan alasan tiada akta jerebu, kata pakar",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/sukar-bukti-kes-bukan-alasan-tiada-akta-jerebu-kata-pakar-16268421",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T02:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/10/24/sukar-bukti-kes-bukan-alasan-tiada-akta-jerebu-kata-pakar"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malaysia has previously considered specialized legislation to handle transboundary forest fires but did not pursue it in 2020. Experts have argued that the difficulty in proving responsibility for fires outside Malaysia should not prevent the country from enacting special legislation to address the issue. Mohd Fadhil Md Din, a lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, stated that a chain of evidence linking the fire, responsibility, smoke movement, and pollution in Malaysia is needed. He emphasized that thermal satellite imagery is just an initial indication and insufficient to prove who carried out the burning. Instead, land ownership data, activities at the fire site, and smoke movement analysis are required. International law expert Salawati Mat Basir also supports the need for a special law, as the existing Environmental Quality Act 1974 only covers open burning within Malaysia's jurisdiction. She pointed out that the investigation should identify the owner and manager of the fire area, including the possibility of involvement from Malaysian companies through subsidiaries or suppliers abroad. To determine this, Malaysia must identify whether local companies have supply chains or branches there to identify who is behind it. Malaysia also needs to strengthen cooperation with Indonesia to obtain land ownership data, site managers, and fire records, as Malaysia cannot enforce its authority unilaterally in another country. Both experts discussed the statement by Deputy Minister of Federal Territory and Environment, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, that lack of evidence to determine the cause and responsibility is a major challenge for Malaysia in enacting a special law on transboundary forest fires. He said that information such as fire coordinates, land ownership, and activities of those involved in the area need to be identified, including evidence linking the fire to Malaysia's case. However, he reiterated that Malaysia will continue diplomatic cooperation with Indonesia and efforts through the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Forest Fire Pollution. Malaysia had previously considered specialized legislation to handle transboundary forest fires but abandoned the proposal in 2020 due to feasibility concerns, diplomatic relations, and difficulty obtaining evidence from other countries. In 2023, the government decided again not to draft such legislation after consulting the Attorney-General's Chambers and legal experts about the difficulties in proving liability that crosses borders. The government then explained that it does not rule out the possibility of introducing such legislation entirely.",
  "summary": "Kerajaan digesa gubal undang-undang khusus dan perkukuh kerjasama dengan Indonesia bagi mengenal pasti pihak bertanggungjawab.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}