Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government has been urged to immediately assess the feasibility of cloud seeding as worsening haze pushes air quality in several areas into the unhealthy category.
Kapayan Assemblyman Chin Tek Ming said the Government should not adopt a reactive approach or wait for the Air Pollutant Index (API) to reach very unhealthy or hazardous levels before taking stronger preventive measures.
“The source of the problem may be outside Sabah, but the responsibility to protect Sabahans is inside Sabah,” he said in a statement, Tuesday.
ChinChin said the haze was largely attributed to transboundary smoke from forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, but this should not be an excuse for inaction by the State Government.
“Sabah cannot put out fires across the border. But Sabah Government cannot simply say that this is a transboundary problem and leave Sabahans to deal with the consequences,” he said.
He pointed out that Sarawak was already moving towards cloud-seeding operations due to its worsening haze, while Sabah had previously conducted cloud seeding in June following a request from the Sabah State Disaster Management Committee.
“Therefore, I call upon the Sabah Government to immediately request MET Malaysia and Nadma to assess whether cloud seeding is presently feasible in Sabah,” he said.
Chin stressed that cloud seeding was not a solution to transboundary haze but could help mitigate the situation if suitable meteorological conditions existed.
He also called for the State Disaster Management Committee to be activated, a coordinated haze response involving relevant agencies, intensified enforcement against open burning and greater protection for children and vulnerable groups if API readings continue to rise.
