Cabinet greenlights law to tackle transboundary haze

The cabinet has greenlit plans to formulate a law that will tackle transboundary haze, allowing the government to take action against Malaysian individuals and companies operating abroad.

The Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Ministry (Mestecc) said the law would focus on precautionary, preventive, and punitive elements to curb transboundary haze.

The nation was blanketed in haze for over two months last year - prompting the ministry to begin drafting the law.

Several Malaysian companies operating oil palm estates in Indonesia were blamed as contributors to the haze, a claim which the companies denied.

Messtec in a statement today, said the new law would allow authorities to monitor and take action more effectively.

It said it would be engaging with various agencies, stakeholders, and experts in drafting the law which will cover aspects of security, geopolitics, data security, and involve multiple ministries.

It said in 2013 and 2015 respectively, the haze had caused RM1.49 billion and RM1.16 billion in economic losses respectively.

This, it said, did not include the cost of firefighting operations, cloud seeding, cancelled flights, sports, destruction of biodiversity, as well as the threat of climate change.