September 8, 2026 | 09:21 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated that ASEAN must review its existing mechanisms for managing transboundary haze to prevent further adverse impacts on public health.
Anwar stressed that ASEAN ministers should give serious attention to the issue, noting that air pollution directly threatens lives, particularly babies and young children.
"There is room for improvement. I think ASEAN ministers must seriously look at it because this is affecting lives, particularly children and babies, and if we have seen in Serian (Sarawak), it is really concerning," Anwar sa as reported by news agency BERNAMA in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Anwar, who serves concurrently as Finance Minister, addressed reporters following a meeting with staff at the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Tuesday.
Hazardous Air Quality Hits Sarawak
Air quality in Serian, Sarawak, has deteriorated back to hazardous levels, with the local District Police Headquarters (IPD) monitoring station recording an Air Pollution Index (API) reading of 302 on Tuesday morning.
Last Friday, September 4, Malaysia's King Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim declared a state of emergency across the Serian region, citing air pollution that posed a severe risk to public health.
The emergency declaration was subsequently lifted on Monday, September 7.
Investigation into Corporate Culpability
Addressing the issue of open land burning in Indonesia, the Malaysian Prime Minister noted that the matter warrants a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the fires before taking measures against any party.
Asked whether Malaysian firms operating in Indonesia had engaged in illegal burning and contributed to the crisis, Anwar emphasized that Malaysia fully respects any legal enforcement taken by Indonesian authorities.
"If there are Malaysian companies that are affected (involved), we will give Indonesia space to take action. We will certainly respect the legal process there and will not defend them," he said.
He underlined that Malaysia would neither intervene nor shield any corporate entity if investigations establish culpability for open burning or other statutory violations in neighboring nations.
Rights Group Demands Regional Accountability
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) previously warned that the region's recurring transboundary haze crisis has escalated into a human rights emergency requiring decisive action from ASEAN and its member states.
APHR urged ASEAN and its member governments to formally recognize the deteriorating haze crisis as a human rights emergency and leverage the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Da Nang, Vietnam, this October to tackle the lax enforcement that has fueled regional air pollution for nearly three decades.
Among key measures, APHR called on ASEAN member states to establish a regional legal framework that holds corporations legally accountable for forest fires stemming from peatland drainage, commodity-driven deforestation, and agricultural waste burning.
The rights group further urged that all plantation firms holding concessions in fire-prone landscapes, including peatlands and forested zones, be mandated to publish and share concession maps across all ASEAN member states to enhance supply chain transparency.
Additionally, APHR called on ASEAN member states to enforce mandatory traceability across every stage of agribusiness and food supply chains to pinpoint commodity origins and mitigate deforestation, agricultural burning, and haze risks at their source.
APHR concluded that ASEAN must agree on standardized air quality metrics across all member states to monitor air pollution using a unified methodology and trigger coordinated responses.
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