According to Indonesia’s national disaster agency, there were 328,724 hectares of land burnt this year from January to August, 2019 alone. Many endangered animals are dying. The impact – haze – has spread to Malaysia, Singapore, the south of Thailand and the Philippines, causing a significant deterioration in air quality. In Malaysia, hundreds of schools have been forced to close after the haze reached “very unhealthy levels”.
While Malaysia and Indonesia keep blaming each other over the haze issue, the real deal that needs to be concluded right now is how to solve this transboundary problem. Why don’t we just focus on this urgent task rather than get ourselves entangled in endless blame games.
People need to understand that we all are responsible in taking care of our planet. We are in this together.
While the culprits of haze should be dealt with according to the rule of law, campaigns promoting environmental awareness and environmental sustainability should be the right and responsibility of all citizens of the planet.
We should develop the collective will to be part of the solutions to environmental problems.
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” – Chris Maser
