KUALA LUMPUR: The persistent haze situation in the country has resulted in the doubling of hospital admissions in the last two days, said Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
He told the Dewan Rakyat, without providing specific figures, that the cost incurred by Malaysia to face the situation is huge, citing large-scale events that faced potential cancellation back in 2015 and 2019 due to the haze.
"The (cost) is massive as it involves the health of Malaysians.
"Since the drop in air quality, (hospital) admissions have increased significantly. This is also reflected in the absence of workers for work," he said during the minister's question time today.
Nik Nazmi also said that the existing ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) lacks provision to take punitive action against parties involved or causing the haze.
He said that a review of the agreement is important for better management of the haze situation.
He explained that a specific law introduced here on transboundary haze would not be enough to take action against companies or governments from neighbouring countries where the haze originated from.
He cited an example of Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act which was not successful in taking action against parties causing haze from other countries.
He said that a bill similar to the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement must be enacted with the respective neighbouring countries if they want to enforce such actions.
If not, the review of the AATHP would be the right platform to do so, he said.
Haze in Malaysia has worsened in the past weeks following the forest fire situation in Indonesia.
