KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has sent a letter to Indonesia in efforts to resolve the transboundary haze issue that has affected the nation.
Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said a letter has been sent to Indonesia's Environment and Forestry minister, Siti Nurbaya Bakar as a follow-up action on the haze issue.
This follows Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's statement yesterday that he had instructed Nik Nazmi to coordinate with his Asean counterparts to resolve the transboundary haze issue.
"We have sent a letter to the Indonesia's Environment and Forestry minister on the (transboundary haze) issue following the Prime Minister's statement yesterday," he said to the media after attending the International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM).
He added that all Asean countries including Indonesia had signed the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002.
The agreement is a legally binding environmental agreement by the Asean member states to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia.
The agreement recognises that transboundary haze pollution which results from land and or forest fires should be mitigated through concerted national efforts and international cooperation.
As of noon today, only two areas - Sri Aman and IPD Serian in Sarawak - recorded unhealthy Air Pollution Index (API) readings at 115 and 101 respectively.
Yesterday morning, seven locations across the country recorded unhealthy API readings exceeding 100, mainly in the Klang Valley and Seremban areas but it was sweeped off by rainfall this morning.
Last week, Department of Environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar attributed the latest smog in the country to hundreds of forest fires in Indonesia.
He added the fires were worsening air pollution on the country's west coast and in Sarawak on the Malaysian part of Borneo island.
He also said satellite imagery showed 52 forest fire "hotspots" in Sumatra and 264 in Borneo, according to a report from the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), which tracks haze affecting Southeast Asia.
However, the Indonesian government, through its Ministry of Environment and Forestry denied allegations regarding haze from forest and land fires (karhutla) in Indonesia crossing into Malaysia.
Siti Nurbaya stated in an official statement in Jakarta on Monday that Malaysia's complaint about the Indonesian haze was not accurate.