Six peninsular hotspots not cause of haze, says minister

Six hotspots in the peninsula’s forest reserves have not contributed to the haze.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department through satellite images spotted the hotspots on Sept 17 and Sept 18, of which three were in Johor, two in Pahang and one in Terengganu.

"They are under control and were not the cause of the haze,” he told a media conference at his ministry here today.

Following the haze situation, he said all forestry departments including in Sabah and Sarawak had been reminded to conduct continuous monitoring and identify hotspots in areas gazetted as permanent forest reserves (PFR), that could potentially contribute to the predicament.  

Fire prevention measures undertaken at the PFRs by the Peninsular Malaysia forestry department include setting up a special team dubbed Semut Merah.

'’Tube wells have also been built with the cooperation of the Mineral and Geoscience Department at identified hotspots. Currently there are 85 tube wells,” Xavier said.

- Bernama