KUALA LUMPUR: The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) hopes that the Kuala Lumpur 2017 Sea Games (KL2017), to be held from Aug 19 to 30, will not be affected by the haze which has engulfed parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia.
OCM president Tan Sri Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar said that each time Malaysia hosted a major international event, the weather had been favourable – and thus far, the fires in Indonesia have not interrupted preparations for KL2017.
“We cannot control the weather… but we believe this year, it will be good. A year before we hosted the 1998 Commonwealth Games, we faced a very bad haze problem and the delegates attending the Commonwealth Games Federation then were worried – but during the Games, everything was fine,” he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) warned of an escalating threat of forest fires with the dry season expected to peak in coming months, while hot spots detected in the province of Aceh have already generated choking smoke.
International news agency AFP reported that hospitals in Aceh are filled with hundreds of people, including children, suffering breathing problems due to the smoke.
“The peak of the dry season is predicted to be in August and September, so the threat of forest and field fires and drought will escalate,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for BNPB had said in a statement
However, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has expressed confidence in the measures taken by the Indonesian government to combat forest fires in the aftermath of the 2015 haze incident.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s chef-de-mission Datuk Marina Chin said that she hopes Malaysia will not be affected by the haze to ensure that athletes are at their best throughout the games.
“In the event that the haze (affects KL2017), the Malaysian Sea Games Organising Committee (Masoc) will meet and discuss the next course of action,” she said. -- BERNAMA