Two of the towns worst hit by the recent smog were Muar and Port Klang. The general consensus was that they bore the brunt of the smoke billowing in from Sumatra – but local plantation burning in Johan Setia near Port Klang and in Mukim Air Hitam near Muar may have aggravated the smog.
Blog reader KTWong87 sent us these two reports. The first one is a case of burning near Port Klang:
… fire at a “6.41 hectare farm in Taman Johan Setia since Thursday”… with 3 out of 4 sectors still burning?
Taman Johan Setiua is about 5 miles from the centre of Klang, so I’d wonder howmuch of the 493 API was aresult of the smoke from that fire?
And apparently the Selangor state government has already opened investigation papers “to charge 12 land owners involved in burning activities in their land”.
Read the details here:
Agricultural Activities Source Of Forest Fire In Johan Setia
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=958792
This is not the first time fires have been reported in Johan Setia. Check out this burning – same area, same month, last year. ntv7 reported on 16 June:
Our checks at Johan Setia and Jalan Kebun in Kelang showed that the peat fires are caused by open burning by plantation workers and farmers who seem to take advantage to the dry spell to carry out this open burning, and residents here claimed that they have been lodging reports and complaints to the authorities for the past 3 weeks but to date, no serious action has been taken to stop this open burning.
“The illegal open burning is usually carried out at night. We can see the fire blazing. During the day, we can just see smoke,” said resident, Malik Mat Yassin.
“Every year when it is the dry season, people will conduct burnings everywhere. It is deplorable here because it is a peat swap, so at the end of the day, the residents will suffer,” said resident, Mohamad Samri Miah.
The Selangor government warned of strong action last year. What happened since then?
About the situation in Muar, KTWong87 noted earlier:
How about 46 hectares of plantations in Muar on fire, and firemen only able to put out 12 hectares so far, and the remaining 34 pumping out smoke?
Any link to the 746 API in Muar? How much of that smoke actually came from Indonesian fires?
Read the Bernama report at:
Fire-fighters facing uphill task putting out fire in plantation in Muar
Looks like we can’t pin all the blame on plantation burning in Indonesia, can we?
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This is a still a month of doing all the `pahala’ by Muslims before Ramadhan! So I hope the B’Out#505 Muslims will put equal importance to saving the lives of the elderly, sickly and children by finding and mooting solutions to this over 20 years old perennial hazards and discomforts! A 51year old has purportedly died in Muar (wich touched API of 750) a few days ago! And there was open burning in a 46hac (over 100ac) plantation in Muar itself. In Johan Setia Klang this was the same scenario with the Pakatan Government still not able to take pro-active… Read more »
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Don’t mention whether it is BN/PR. Don’t mention whether it is Malaysian owned or foreign owned.
Just maintain the rule of law and exert maximum punishment allowable under the law for those offenders.
If current punishment is not enough, then amend it accordingly.
And take a look at this map of active fires from June 12 to 20: http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AI-CB793_ASIAHA_G_20130625120606.jpg Source: Malaysia, Singapore Reiterate Offer to Indonesia on Fires http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323998604578567490475389534.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_MIDDLEThirdNews Do you see the fires around Klang and Muar, and also along the Karak Highway to Kuantan? Recall Kuantan being hit by bad haze till schools had to be ordered closed a few days ago? I had wondered why Kuantan, being on the East Coast, had been hit by the haze if it had come from Sumatra, since tha Main Range would have blocked much of the smoke Could it be that burning around… Read more »
Teruklah! BN ruled Slangor 5 decades. PR 5 years. If all they do is for E Wong to show her face on TV, a lot needs to be said! Where’s the beef?