KUALA LUMPUR: Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said it was illogical for Indonesia to claim the haze originated from Sarawak.
She said Indonesian Environment Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar should not be in denial and that the data spoke for itself.
On a Facebook posting, Yeo who shared several links, said the data clearly showed that Indonesia was indeed responsible for the haze in Malaysia.
“The latest data on the total number of hotspots recorded by the Asean Specialised Metrological Centre (ASMC) revealed there were 474 locations in Kalimantan; Sumatera (387), while there were only seven in Malaysia,” said Yeo.
She also shared a link from ASMC which showed the wind direction of the haze being blown to Sarawak, dismissing claims by Siti Nurbaya who said the haze was from Sarawak.
“Just look at the wind direction. How is it logically possible?
“Minister Siti Nurbaya should not be in denial,” said Yeo.
Recently, Siti Nurbahaya had accused Malaysia of not being transparent of its own forest fire saying that the current haze situation was caused by fires in Sarawak.
She was also quoted as saying the number of hotspots in Indonesia had seen a downward trend, despite ASMC showing that the number of hotspots in both Kalimantan and Sumatra had increased.
“It has been ascertained that until now, there has been no transboundary haze from Indonesia to neighbouring countries,” she claimed.
On Monday, Yeo said that the government would offer assistance to put out forest fires in both Kalimantan and Sumatera.
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 at strategic spots in Kalimantan.
The most recent haze which had affected states in Malaysia had caused the Air Pollutant Index (API) to increase, with several areas hitting a very unhealthy API.
As of 12pm today, the air quality in Johan Setia recorded a reading of 209 (very unhealthy).
Many other areas in the Klang Valley had recorded an unhealthy air quality.
An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100 moderate; 101 to 200 unhealthy; 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 300 and above, hazardous.