No! We can't blame Indonesia, neither should we put any form of pressure on Indonesia to tackle the cross-border haze.
The best Jakarta should do is reprimand those responsible in the open burning and penalise them accordingly.
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However, perhaps Malaysia should apply a bit of pressure on President Joko Widodo government in helping solve the influx of Indonesia illegals in Malaysia since the problem remains as it is over the past few years although efforts were carried out to control it.
Malaysia and Indonesia could at least work on a more 'graft free' method in attending to the issue, and Jakarta should at the same time call back its citizens who stay in Malaysia as illegal immigrants. We don't have the exact figure but it is estimated at 3 million.
Corruption among some immigration officers, police and other agencies is undoubtedly the 'catalyst' that encourage them to overstay here.
Speaking in Putrajaya today, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said such a move would be unfair to Indonesia which was earnestly undertaking efforts to put out the fires on its peat land.
Instead, he said, all Asean countries should be cooperating to assist Indonesia in finding long-term solutions to the haze problem.
“We should also sympathise with Indonesia in overcoming this problem. Don’t just criticise them. At the same time, I hope there are no parties blaming Malaysian investors opening up land for oil palm plantations there for the fires,” he added.
Zahid said Malaysia was prepared to share its best practice in oil palm cultivation with Indonesia in efforts to reduce fires and overcome the problem in the future.
“Personally, I have proposed to the Indonesian President (Joko Widodo) the best plantation practice by Malaysian operators there,” he said.
Citing the system used by TH Plantations in Riau, he explained that in between each two rows of oil palms, a drain had been built to channel water to the plants and to prevent any fire from spreading if one started.
However, he said, it was up to the Indonesian government to introduce the best oil palm cultivation system as it would incur a high cost, besides requiring the cooperation of plantations and smallholders.
According to the Department of Environment, 97 per cent of peat soil fires were caused by smallholders who were still using the traditional slash-and-burn method in cultivating oil palm.
The best Jakarta should do is reprimand those responsible in the open burning and penalise them accordingly.
Malaysia and Indonesia could at least work on a more 'graft free' method in attending to the issue, and Jakarta should at the same time call back its citizens who stay in Malaysia as illegal immigrants. We don't have the exact figure but it is estimated at 3 million.
Corruption among some immigration officers, police and other agencies is undoubtedly the 'catalyst' that encourage them to overstay here.
Speaking in Putrajaya today, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said such a move would be unfair to Indonesia which was earnestly undertaking efforts to put out the fires on its peat land.
“It’s unfair to put any pressure on Indonesia. President Joko Widodo has shown strong commitment to solving the problem in the long term,” he told reporters after opening the first Putrajaya International Security Dialogue.Zahid, who is also Home Minister, urged all parties affected by the haze problem to stop pointing fingers at each other.
Instead, he said, all Asean countries should be cooperating to assist Indonesia in finding long-term solutions to the haze problem.
“We should also sympathise with Indonesia in overcoming this problem. Don’t just criticise them. At the same time, I hope there are no parties blaming Malaysian investors opening up land for oil palm plantations there for the fires,” he added.
Zahid said Malaysia was prepared to share its best practice in oil palm cultivation with Indonesia in efforts to reduce fires and overcome the problem in the future.
“Personally, I have proposed to the Indonesian President (Joko Widodo) the best plantation practice by Malaysian operators there,” he said.
Citing the system used by TH Plantations in Riau, he explained that in between each two rows of oil palms, a drain had been built to channel water to the plants and to prevent any fire from spreading if one started.
However, he said, it was up to the Indonesian government to introduce the best oil palm cultivation system as it would incur a high cost, besides requiring the cooperation of plantations and smallholders.
According to the Department of Environment, 97 per cent of peat soil fires were caused by smallholders who were still using the traditional slash-and-burn method in cultivating oil palm.