M’sia closely monitoring open burning in region — DoE

KUCHING: Malaysia is closely monitoring open burning activities in the region through the Asean Meteorological Centre, said Department of Environment ( DoE) Malaysia director-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Kamarulnajuib Che Ibrahim.

According to him, the situation is good as far as the transboundary movement of haze is concerned.

“We are monitoring the weather condition through the Asean Meteorological Centre, which is based in Singapore.

“From there, we will figure out what happens such as the transboundary movement of haze and so forth. But for now, the situation is good,” he said when met by journalists at a hotel here yesterday.

On the haze situation in the country, Kamarulnajuib said it is not very serious at the moment because there have been heavy rain in Peninsular Malaysia in recent days.

“In Sarawak, I notice that it has rained as well, so the situation has improved,” he added.

Earlier, Kamarulnajuib witnessed the signing of memorandum of understanding ( MoU) between DoE Sarawak, represented by its acting director Amirul Aripin, and nine organisations.

The nine are Kota Samarahan Industrial Training Institute, PPKS Ilmu Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Energy Berhad, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Shell Berhad, Trienekens ( Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, Asean Bintulu Fertilisers Sdn Bhd, Sejingkat Power Corporation Sdn Bhd and X-Fab Sarawak Sdn Bhd.

Prior to this, DoE Sarawak signed a similar MoU with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) on promoting environmental awareness and excellence among the community.