Stop open burning – DG urges the public

KOTA KINABALU: Members of the public must stop open burning and other recreational activities that may cause forest fires.

Fire and Rescue Department director-general Dato Mohammad Hamdan Haji Wahid said this was because the prolonged drought had the capacity to worsen the forest fire situation.

He said the high temperature due to the hot weather was expected to continue till April and the department was seeing a three-fold increase in forest fires between January and March of this year in the country, in particular, Peninsular Malaysia.

“We ordered all 290 fire stations to be ready with their forest firefighting tools,” he said.

Mohammad Hamdan also said surveillance activities were being carried out to identify hot spots throughout the country.

He added that people must abstain from any form of open burning for any reason, including agricultural practice.

He warned that the haze caused by the fire contained small particles that are harmful to human health and could cause chronic illnesses such as breathing difficulties.

He also urged Sarawakians to abstain from open burning even though it is part of their customary rights to do so due to the present hot condition.

As for big companies that carry out open burning, he warned that they risk being penalized.