Malaysia offers to help Indonesia battle forest fires

Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Yeo Bee Yin delivered her speech during special reception and BBC Studio’s Blue Planet II screening at Quill City Mall.- NSTP/ASYRAF HAMZAH

By Hana Naz Harun

September 10, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has offered its assistance to Indonesia to put out forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatera.

Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc) Yeo Bee Yin said she and other ministry officials and Foreign Ministry officers had reiterated their concern on the impact of persistent transboundary haze on the Malaysian public.

“This afternoon, Mestecc deputy minister, officers, Foreign Ministry officers and I met with Minister Counsellor Agus Badrul Jamal, and Counsellor of Information, Social and Cultural Affairs from the Indonesian Embassy.

“On the diplomatic front, we received updates from the Foreign Ministry that Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia Zainal Abidin Bakar had met Indonesian senior officials yesterday (Monday) to discuss the transboundary haze currently affecting Malaysia,” she said in a statement on Facebook today.

She said the Indonesian government had conveyed its commitment to manage the haze by deploying close to 2,900 personnel and 1,677 volunteers to douse the forest fires.

Among them are 1,994 personnel in Sumatera and 860 in Kalimantan.

Yeo said the Indonesian government was using 16 helicopters to carry out water bombing in strategic spots in Kalimantan.

“The Indonesian government is coordinating with relevant institutions to ensure concerted actions are taken to address the root cause of the problem.

“The government will continue to do cloud seeding whenever the situation allows and send assistance to Indonesia if and when they accept the offer,” she added.

The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward (second from left) accompanied by Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (second from right) during special reception and BBC Studio’s Blue Planet II screening at Quill City Mall. Also present, Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Yeo Bee Yin (right) and Primary Industries Minister, Teresa Kok (left). – NSTP/ASYRAF HAMZAH

On a separate matter, Yeo said Mestecc was in talks to set up the Malaysia Plastic Pact to bring key stakeholders together to tackle the plastic waste problem.

She urged organisations, government agencies and civil society to be a part of this multi-stakeholder platform to address plastic pollution.

“The Malaysia Plastics Pact will complement and drive our efforts in developing a plastic circular economy as outlined in Malaysia’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics,” she said at the screening of BBC Studio’s Blue Planet II here, yesterday.

Present were Prince Edward, Earl of Essex, and Princess of Selangor Tengku Zatashah Idris.

Prince Edward later presented the Commonwealth Points of Light award to Khor Sur Yee and Ton Fong Yun for their work as zero waste champions.

The duo, co-founders of the Zero Waste Malaysia movement, received a personalised certificate signed by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.