HAZE IN MALAYSIA: AND SOLUTIONS Introduction

PREVENTIONS Ha!" #actors -eep in a 0ungle, a lightning struc*. &hen a tree start to burn by itsel(. .rom this small (ire, the (lame begin the spread. And hazy condition start to spread (rom the 0ungle to humanization world and cause damages. $ust to begin, de'astation can occurs in many ways. As we *now, some may occur naturally and some are caused by our own hands. .rom the plantation industries to the modern de'elopment, many (actors can be related to this air type pollutions as so called as haze. $% #or"st &urnin' &his (irst (actor is commonly happened naturally, .rom lightings, dry weathers or droughts and o'erheating can caused damages or burnings in our (orests. And naturally, the e'ents occurred une,pectedly and may be detected late when the (ire has turn out to be bigger. Some (orest burnings were can only be detected a(ter three to se'en days a(ter the (ire had started. .or an e,ample, in $anuary "001, a bush (ire in New South /ales and the Australian 2apital &erritory blazed through a region almost the size o( the state o( &e,as, destroying 300 homes and *illing (our people, and also thousands o( sheep and cattle died in this de'astating e'ent.

Nowadays, the haze has becoming more common issue around the world, especially in Southeast Asia countries. In Malaysia, the haze problems was stated as early in the 80s, where there was a record that in !8", haze was recorded occurred around #etaling $aya and %elang, Selangor. &his issue can pro'ides a lot o( problems especially to our health, li'ing styles and to our economy. )ecause o( haze episode, people cannot go to wor*, schedules can be o'erdue and healthy li(estyles can be stunted.

What is HAZE According to &he +,(ord -ictionary, haze was de(ined as a slight obscuration o( the lower atmosphere, typically caused by (ine suspended particles. &hese particles mostly can be described as smo*e and dust. &his particles usually came (rom burning either in natural en'ironment or the impacts (rom our modernization now. .rom &he /orld Meteorological +rganization manual o( codes, a classi(ication o( these particles include (og, ice (og, steam (og, mist, haze, smo*e, 'olcanic ash, dust, sand and snow. &hese particles created haze problems when the dispersal o( these particles where bloc*ed and then become thic*ened o'er time. &his condition may causes impact to our eye sight and also to our health.

(% P)antation &urnin'*+ro, &urnin' Some o( the plantations need to dispose their crop residues by burning them. Some residues can easily burnt and some can gi'e impacts on becoming hazing problems. In certain countries, the residues were burned in a large amount o( 4uantity. So, when the burning was not super'ised constantly, haze episodes may occur and many countries will threatened by its danger.

Ha!" E,isod"s in Ma)a/sia &he Southeast Asia regions has been (amous (or haze episodes in the "0th century. /hen haze episodes happened, Malaysia is no e,ception in e,periencing these episodes. In September !8", haze had been recorded in #etaling $aya and %elang area. &his episode was occurred a(ter a burning that in'ol'e an area o( (i'e thousands hectares o( land in 5ast o( %alimantan. In the ne,t episode, and also *nown as one o( the worst haze episode was occurred in !!67 !!8. &he haze in'ol'ed an area o( eight thousands hectares o( burning land both in Malaysia and Indonesia. &his was the (irst time the Malaysian 8o'ernment declared an emergency or darurat (or 0 days because o( the haze episode. /ith the 5l7Nino e((ect, some regions in &he Southeast Asia e,periencing se'ere droughts and illegal logging had made the situation a lot more worst. In this episode, it was recorded that more than 000 death and around 90000 were admitted in hospitals and clinics due to hea'y smo*e and haze :Smith "00 , "31;. &he ne,t episode occurred in "003. <aze came bac* to Malaysia caused by burning in %alimantan and Sumatra. &he go'ernment had declared emergency (or the second time especially (or %uala Selangor and #ort %lang where the I#= inde, in this areas was recorded more than 300. In this episode, an agreement had been signed by the 0 AS5AN regions :#er0an0ian $erebu >intas Sempadan AS5AN; in order to monitor and pre'ent acti'ities that could create hazing disasters. In "0 1, despite all the monitoring, again another episode occurred. It was $une "0 1, a burning in ?iau district, had create a massi'e haze episode in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and )runei. &he I#= inde, o( 69@ in Muar, $ohor, had made the go'ernment to declared another

-% Ur.ani!ation Pro'r"ss In this (actor, urbanization can also leads to hazing problems. As much as we need modernization, sometimes en'ironmental issues when not be ta*en seriously in order to achie'e our goals. Industries will ta*e part in order to ha'e better economic growth (or the nation. .actories and wor*shops are built to supply 0obs and opportunities to enlarge the business itsel(. &he problems o( smo*es and to,ic 'apors can lead to unhealthy breathing atmosphere and can cause a 'ariety o( diseases such as asthma, sore throats and pain in the eyes. &his type o( pollution can also e((ects our li(estyles, especially to our *ids.

emergency where schools were ordered to close because o( the critical I#= reading in that year.

(% Wh"n th" ha!" ha,,"n a. %eep the public calm and pro'ide procedures (rom time to time. b. Always monitor o( the I#= readings :le'el o( I#=;.
Ni)ai IPU 5 6 75 7$ 6 $55 $5$ 6 (55 (5$ 6 -55 -5$ 6 855 85$ 6 755 L".ih 75$ 4ua)iti udara )ai* Sederhana &ida* sihat Sangat tida* sihat )erbahaya Sangat berbahaya %ecemasan, :perintah ber*urung dan Darurat boleh diumum*an oleh *era0aan;

c. d.

e. Ho0 To O1"rco2" th" Ha!" E,isod"s &he public should be aware that haze can create a lot o( problems to the health and the economy itsel(. &he go'ernment and the groups o( countries must de'elop solutions and laws that can be implemented in monitoring and pre'enting this hazardous episode to may occur again. &his situation can be pre'ented i( all o( us are together agreeing and cooperating to stop haze episodes to repeat again. Suggestions on pre'enting this disaster are separated in three main situations. $% &"3or" th" ha!" ha,,"n a. #ro'ide in(ormation on the hazardous o( haze to the public regularly. b. Monitor any *inds o( acti'ities that could create haze episodes. c. Implement laws and guideline rules (or open burning and crop burning.

5mergency calls (or areas that the inde, are more than 300. 2reate teams to stop burnings and monitor other places or regions on pre'enting new burnings. #rosecute o((enders on this matter and issue summons to them.

-% A3t"r th" ha!" ha,,"n a. Applying strictly the laws to the o((enders. b. %eep trac*s o( any changes using the I#= inde,. c. Always discuss matters and new laws or guidelines in order to pre'ent the episodes in the (uture +onc)usion >aws, rules and guidelines are certainly the most important way to pre'ent any *ind o( mischie'ous acti'ities in the world. I( the go'ernment strictly applying these laws and rules, the episodes li*e haze can be easily sol'ed and the pre'ention can be at the best. It is up to nations themsel'es to apply these laws in order to stop hazing episodes (rom e'er occur again. New methods should be designed and de'eloped in the crop burning acti'ities.

New ways o( disposing these residues can pre'ent or stop the haze (rom happening again. ?esearches and e,periments are important to ha'e better solutions (or our (uture generations. >astly, campaigns and ad'ertisements can pro'ide the public o( the hazardous o( the haze. &hese ways can be run throughout medias and (rom times to times. So, let us together (ind better solutions and stop open burnings (or the sa*e o( our children and (or the better and clean en'ironment in the (uture. &han* you.

&i.)io'ra,h/ Mencari Kaedah Tangani Jerebu, August "003, <arian Metro Sham Sani, Abdul Samad <adi : !!0;. Pembangunan dan Alam Sekitar di Malaysia Isu dan Pengurusannya, %uala >umpurA -ewan )ahasa dan #usta*a. $abatan Alam Se*itar, %ementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Se*itar Malaysia Smith. % :"00 ;, Environmental hazards Assessing risk and reducing disaster, &hird edition, >ondonA ?outledge Mohmadisa <ashim dan Mohamad Suhaily 2he Ngah :"003;. Pembangunan dan Alam Sekitar Di Malaysia, #era*A =ni'ersiti #endidi*an Sultan Idris. httpABBmstar.com.myBberitaBcerita.aspC (ileDB"0 1B@B""BmstarEberitaB"0 10@"" 006 3FsecDmstarEberita httpABBp*u*mweb.u*m.myBzuhairiB#enga0ara nBinternetEpro0ectsBstae"" 1B*ump B$erebu. htm