Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Immediate ban on open burning in Sarawak


The Sarawak government has imposed an immediate ban on open burning during the current dry spell in view the recurrence of the haze which has engulfed Miri.

Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said today the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) had revoked 10 open-burning permits - three each in Sibu and Mukah, Miri (two) and one each in Kuching and Sarikei - where open burning by plantations were detected.

"I have also directed the Fire and Rescue Services to deploy additional firemen from other divisions to assist the 100 personnel in Miri to curb open burning and monitor forest fires while the Public Works Department is tasked with raising the water level," he told a media conference at the state operations room at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Kuching.

Dr Chan, who is also state disaster relief commitee chairman, said the NREB would be distributing masks to residents in Miri, where cloud-seeding would be conducted if the situation warranted it.

Following the re-activation of the Resident Office's operations room in all the nine divisions, the relevant authorities were on stand-by, he said.

Yesterday, 17 hotspots were also detected in Kalimantan, Indonesia, which were likely to affect Sarawak, he added.

- Bernama

No comments: