Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian non-governmental organisations staged a rare demonstration on Sunday demanding immediate and serious action from authorities to combat a smoky haze blanketing parts of Southeast Asia.
Some 60 people gathered at Merdeka Square, the site of Malaysia's declaration of independence 40 years ago, protesting against a lack of action by the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to control the haze.
Protesters shouted "Immediate action! Immediate action!" during the peaceful hour-long rally as a dozen police officers watched.
The rare protest came amid indications the haze may worsen before it gets better as timber and plantation companies accelerate slash-and-burn activities before the government clamps down on the fires.
The thick, choking smog, which has also affected neighbouring Singapore, has been blamed on smoke from thousands of brush and forest fires in Indonesia and industrial pollution. It has triggered health alarms and disrupted air and sea traffic.
"We regret that the lack of firm and effective action by both Malaysian and Indonesian governments to control the haze has resulted (in) serious health risk to many people," said Sanusi Osman, spokesman for the Group for Clean Air for the People.
"We are surprised that the fires in Indonesia raging at such magnitude were not detected at the early stage. We should have paid greater attention to the situation and helped Indonesia to control or put out the fire as soon as it happened," he said.
The protesters all wore face masks, a common sight throughout the country since the haze worsened a week ago.
The government has said a state of emergency would be declared when the Air Pollutant Index (API), which measures pollution levels, crosses 500.
Malaysia on Friday declared a state of emergency in its eastern state of Sarawak as the pollution thickened to an API reading of 655 in the state capital of Kuching, putting it into "dangerous" territory.
"But we can't wait until it reaches such high level before a state of emergency is declared. By then, it would be a bit too late as many would have fallen sick," said Syed Alwi Syed Mohamad, who brought along his wife and four children, aged between five and 15, to the rally. W.P. Chan, a 72-year-old heart patient, said she attended the rally as a gesture of support.
"Certainly I'm concerned about the situation. I'm a heart patient and my daughter is an asthmatic. I find it difficult to breathe, so something has to be done," she said.
Sanusi said the group would hand over a memorandum to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday.
"We know that (Indonesian) President Suharto has apologised. But apology alone is not enough. Serious actions need to be taken to overcome the problem," he said.
Public rallies in Malaysia are rare, particularly those involving neighbouring nations.
Last November youth members of the ruling National Front coalition broke up a human rights conference on East Timor in Kuala Lumpur organised by Malaysian and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Malaysia had earlier warned the NGOs not to proceed with the conference over concerns that it could harm ties with Indonesia.
Malaysia's main opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) said on Sunday that Kuala Lumpur must ensure the Indonesian forest fires were treated as an international problem.
DAP secretary-general Lim Kit Siang said Southeast Asian countries must not let traditional pride and national sovereignty stand in the way of tackling the forest fires.
Indonesian fire officials said on Sunday they had identified 167 hot spots from blazes across the sprawling archipelago.
"Forest fires are still on. The fires have hit more than 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) throughout the country," said an official of the coordinating team for land and fires control.
He said some forest companies might be stepping up slash-and-burn fires to clear land before the government fully clamped down on the practice.
Malaysia on Saturday offered to send 200 firefighters to Kalimantan and an equal number to Sumatra to help fight the fires.