PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is seeking a long-term solution to address the transboundary haze issue.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this, however, could only take place with the support from other countries including Indonesia.
"We always wanted a long-term solution to address the haze problem. We need the cooperation of all including Indonesia and others (involved)," he said after attending the 2019 Putrajaya Boat Race here today.
Asean countries do not have a specific law on transboundary haze, as such enforcement is based on the legislation of the respective countries.
Dr Mahathir also said he has yet to write to Indonesian President Joko Widodo regarding the transboundary haze issue.
"We have not written any letter so far. Indonesia has claimed the haze is coming from Malaysia itself.
"We have to verify if it originates from Malaysia or not," said the prime minister.
It was reported that Indonesia had dismissed complaints by Malaysia of the hazardous smoke drifting from its forest fires across the border, saying fires were also raging in parts of Malaysia and on Malaysian-owned plantation lands.
Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin previously said that Dr Mahathir had agreed to write a letter to bring to the Republic president's attention the trans-boundary haze issue
More than 4,000 hotspots were detected in the central and western parts of Indonesia on Sunday as authorities deployed thousands of people to put out the fires that contribute to a haze blanketing parts of Southeast Asia.
The periodic haze had deteriorated air quality in many places prompting the closure of schools and disrupted travel.
Earlier, Dr Mahathir and wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali watched the final 2019 Boat Race between Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) at the Putrajaya Lake.
Also present were Federal Territories Khalid Abdul Samad and Putrajaya Corporation president Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim.
UPM rowed itself to the finish line, leaving behind UM in its ripples, allowing UPM to secure the 2019 Putrajaya Boat Race championship for the university category.
The idea to have a boat race in the administrative capital was mooted by the prime minister himself. This was to establish a boat race tradition involving the oldest universities as what had been done in the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.
"When we first developed Putrajaya, we had proposed to have a boat race tradition.
"But, it did not happen. So, when I become the `dictator' for the second time, I forced it," he quipped.
Dr Mahathir expressed his hope that the Putrajaya Boat Race would become a popular annual event which would attract the locals and the foreigners alike.