Manila:Malaysia will bring up the issue of transboundary haze at the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, which is scheduled before the bloc's 49th Summit in Manila, Philippines, next month. The goal is to discuss more effective regional mechanisms to tackle the problem.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan highlighted that the haze issue requires special attention, as it is not currently covered by ASEAN's existing mechanisms for natural disasters. He stated his intention to personally raise this issue with his counterparts during the meeting.

Mohamad Hasan also commented on the ongoing efforts to combat fires in Indonesia. He reported that his Indonesian counterpart, Arrmanatha Nasir, conveyed that extremely poor visibility in affected areas is hindering aerial firefighting operations. Indonesia has between three to four aeroplanes and 34 helicopters available, but these cannot operate due to unsafe flying conditions caused by low visibility.

Additionally, Mohamad noted that Indonesia has deployed 60,000 personnel to work on the ground. Despite their efforts, challenges remain as the fires are located deep inland, water supplies are limited, and smouldering continues in peatland areas. Cloud-seeding operations have also been stalled due to the absence of suitable cumulonimbus clouds.

He acknowledged that the Indonesian government is making significant efforts to extinguish the fires and expressed sympathy for the challenges they face. Nonetheless, Malaysia hopes for more effective measures as the current haze situation is negatively impacting the public.