YOURSAY | 'The minute the rain clears the haze, everyone, including the ministers and the media, forgets the issue...'

Indonesia claims haze in Kuala Lumpur originated from Sarawak

Mushiro: This haze is a seasonal problem, so also is the handling of the haze issue. The minute the rain clears the haze, everyone, including the ministers and the media, forgets the issue until the next occurrence.

There is no long-term effort to fix the haze. It is really very sad to see so many people suffering, billions lost and businesses taking a hit.

Roger 5201: It should not matter where the haze is originating from. The practice of open burning on a large scale like this has to stop and this applies equally to Malaysia and the rest of Asean, which share the same air and eco-system.

What seems to be missing is a cross-border framework to collaborate in preventing and putting out these fires.

Unspin: One of the root causes on why the farmers prefer to burn their plantation clearings is because it is too costly to hire lorries to cart the rubbish away.

For instance, if a farmer has four acres of old oil palm trees that he just chopped down, he has about 200 huge tree trunks plus branches and leaves to get rid of. It would take 20-30 lorry loads to do the job. If each load cost RM100, he is staring at RM2,000-RM3,000 in "unnecessary" cost.

To resolve this perennial headache, I propose that the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore pool together some funds to incentivise the farmers not to burn their old oil palm tree trunks and fronds by "buying" these from them.

Meanwhile, provide some grants to universities and the timber industry to research how to make use of oil palm wood. The reason is that unlike rubber tree wood, oil palm tree wood is practically useless right now.

Old Planter: Sorry, Unspin, good imagination but you need to check your facts and knowledge of the situation first.

The fires usually originate from “unoccupied” or “vacant” land areas as local farmers clear the land for food or cash crops cheaply by "slash and burn" methods and not old oil palm areas.

The fires in the peat areas then spread to nearby oil palm areas. If they have oil palm lands, the locals will be reasonably well off and do not have to resort to their desperate methods to plant food or cash crops to survive till the next cropping season. There is a no-burn ban enforced for oil palm areas.

But you are right to state that more good research needs to be done to utilise the potentially valuable biomass left behind in replanting, which currently is left to rot and decompose in the fields - and cause problems to the new plantings.

The biomass is fertile breeding areas for the very damaging Rhinoceros beetle pest and also could be an important reason for the surge in the fatal Basal Stem Rot from Ganoderma fungus, which also spreads in the rotting trunk biomass.

Keropok Ikan: Siti Nurbaya Bakar (photo, above) is perfectly qualified to join Umno or Bersatu and instantly be appointed a minister. The Indonesian environment and forestry minister is showing all the prerequisite skills and knowledge.

Haze: IOI, Sime Darby among M’sian firms blamed for Indonesia forest fires

Anon Two: Indonesia should focus on solving their own problems instead of trying to deflect the blame.

Even if some Malaysian companies are responsible for the burning, it's happening in Indonesia and only the Indonesian authorities can enforce their own laws.

Veritas: Are the Indonesians thick? They have allowed this travesty to go on for decades, and now think they can excuse their grotesque irresponsibility by blaming Malaysian companies.

Surely, they can lock up all culprits if they are the least bit serious about human welfare. This blame game is to deflect their shameless inaction over these fires and their callous disregard of their own citizens and neighbours.

So much religious rhetoric and aggressive piety, and yet so little humanity.

Malaysia Must Change For Better: Why is our PM writing to his counterpart, instead of picking up the phone or getting on his government jet to Jakarta?

This is a crisis that is affecting the health of Malaysians and we expect a little more of our leader. After all, he is jet setting all over the world to handle other important issues and attending to the plight of other communities and nations.

ChuenTick: I remembered reports from previous years where Malaysian companies were similarly implicated.

Yes, the ordinary rakyat pay the price for these companies to reap obscene profits by taking the easy and cheapest way to open up new plantations. Year in, year out the problem recurs.

The Indonesian government really has to find a way of controlling this burning problem - perhaps, pass a law making it mandatory to imprison the top officers of the companies implicated?

Clever Voter: It's so disappointing to see Some Darby in the list of culprits behind the haze. The company prides itself as a sustainable company, winning awards along the way for sustainability standards of their business production.

Reporting of their environmental and social performance was so good that they stood above their competitors.

If the allegations of their wrongdoing in Indonesia, even though it could be within their supply chain, is proven, Sime Darby is no different from many corporations guilty of the crime against the environment.

Sime Darby’s plantations have been underperforming. They now face reputation risk, as well as the possibility of more embargo by their European customers. In this day and age, reputation is key.

It's very disappointing to know the company is now at risk of being thrown to the bottom of the trash. That's tragic.

Anonymous_1381287629: Whether these companies are Malaysian, Singaporean or Indonesian, as long as they breached the laws they should be charged as only the Indonesian government can act.

Anak JB: Indeed, the companies are in your land subjected to your Indonesian law and enforcement.

Please take action, regardless whether it is a Malaysian or Indonesian company, or whether it was from planet Mars.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.