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MALAYSIA is ready to deploy assets to Indonesia to help tackle forest and peat fires that have contributed to the haze in the region, but is still waiting for confirmation from Jakarta.
Unity Government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) and Foreign Ministry had informed the Cabinet that a list of Malaysian assets available for deployment had been submitted to Indonesia.
“But until now, there has been no confirmation on any form of cooperation to use Malaysian assets to help put out the fires,” he said at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference today.
Fahmi said the offer had been conveyed through the Malaysian embassy and Wisma Putra, while the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry had also prepared the necessary assets.
The haze affecting parts of Malaysia has been linked to fires in forest and peatland areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan, with smoke carried across the border by winds.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urged ASEAN countries to take transboundary haze more seriously and strengthen existing mechanisms to deal with the problem.
He said there was still room to improve the current ASEAN framework, particularly given the impact of haze on public health and daily life.
Meanwhile, dengue cases in Malaysia have risen sharply, with 65,979 cases recorded up to epidemiological week 35 this year.
Fahmi said this was a 66% increase from the 39,616 cases recorded during the same period last year.
The number of dengue deaths has also nearly doubled, from 32 last year to 62 this year, an increase of 93.8%.
He said the Cabinet had been briefed on the increase and the need to step up prevention efforts, particularly in areas identified as high-risk.
The Housing and Local Government Ministry will organise large-scale gotong-royong campaigns over the coming months to help curb the spread of dengue, he said.
The Cabinet also discussed the Wolbachia mosquito programme, including its progress in Putrajaya.
Fahmi said large-scale clean-up efforts would need to be intensified, particularly in areas recording high numbers of dengue cases. – September 9, 2026
