cheahsoonhai

The recurrence of haze

Cheah Soon Hai: Take a firm stand to solve the problem

 
 

Press statement by

Gerakan Central Bureau on Environment, Security and Quality of Life Chairman

Dr Cheah Soon Hai

 
 

23 July 2013

 
 

Recently, the returning haze to big cities has prompted Gerakan Central Bureau on Environment, Security and Quality of Life Chairman, Dr Cheah Soon Hai to point out that Malaysia and Singapore should take a firm stand towards Indonesia by voicing their dissatisfaction in order to solve the problem effectively.

 
 

Cheah said "Prevention is better than cure. We must not wait for the haze to happen and then try to solve it. Instead, we should try to prevent it from happening. During the ASEAN meeting, Malaysia must voice out the haze problem to the Indonesian Foreign Minister so they can prevent the haze from affecting our country and Singapore as well."

 
 

Cheah added that the haze hits the country about 2-3 times a year, causing the people to suffer and affecting their lives. We must not wait for the haze to happen then only we try to solve it as this is not an effective method. Malaysia and Singapore must have an agreement with Indonesia because in previous meetings, after a pledge was made, it was merely forgotten until the next haze outbreak which still affects Malaysia and Singapore.

 
 

"As for Indonesia, a committee should be established to seriously study the haze problem for an effective solution. Meanwhile, Malaysiaand Singapore should look into other avenues to provide assistance in other to achieve a win-win situation. At the same time, our government must ban open burning to prevent the haze from becoming more serious."

 
 

Cheah pointed out that the government must also publicly reveal and shamed the culprits behind the burning although it might be a Malaysian consortium for we cannot sacrifice the well-being of an entire nation just for the greed of a small group of people.

 
 

Finally, he said that the haze problem has been affecting us for many years and it is about time to take a firm stance to solve the problem effectively.