Malaysia has cancelled a major marathon and is considering new legislation to tackle transboundary haze, as smoke from wildfires in Indonesia continues to affect several countries across Southeast Asia.
The Kuching Marathon, scheduled for 27 September in Malaysia's Sarawak state, was cancelled due to the haze affecting the city, its organisers said.
The Kuching Marathon Association said the "difficult decision" followed continuous monitoring of air pollutant index readings and consultation with authorities and medical advisers, according to The Straits Time.
"After careful assessment, the health and safety of all parties, including participants, crew members, volunteers, officials, medic teams and the general public, must take precedence," it said in a statement.
Kuching has recorded unhealthy air pollutant index levels above 100 for the past week, including a reading of 158 at 3pm on Thursday. The association said registered participants could collect their finisher medals and T-shirts from Plaza Merdeka starting Friday, with a detailed collection schedule to be announced on its social media platforms.
The haze originates largely from forest and peatland fires burning across Indonesia's Kalimantan and Sumatra islands, which have blanketed the country and neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore in toxic smog for weeks.
Indonesia's health ministry has said more than 170,000 people have suffered respiratory illness since August as a result, and the haze has also reached parts of the Philippines, where officials have urged residents to stay indoors, and Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Malaysia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability said it was examining mechanisms to draft specific legislation on transboundary haze, including looking at the approach taken by Singapore, which already has its own transboundary haze pollution act.
Dr G Pubadi, the ministry's environmental management division undersecretary, said the minister, Arthur Joseph Kurup, had directed the formation of a special committee to study ways to strengthen efforts against the haze, The Edge Malaysia reported.
"The ministry is indeed examining the mechanisms already in place in Singapore to draft a specific act to address the haze issue. However, drafting an act is not a simple matter," he said on the Bernama TV programme Ruang Bicara on Thursday night.
Dr Pubadi said Malaysia had presented a proposal for a "science diplomacy" initiative and a sustainable haze fund at a regional meeting in Bali, Indonesia, which received support from Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
The proposal will be reviewed by the Asean Secretariat before being taken to a meeting of 11 countries in Vietnam in December. Malaysia has also proposed more open sharing of haze-related data between countries in the region.
Rosli Zul, the Department of Environment's enforcement director, said the department operated 68 official air quality monitoring stations and advised the public to rely on its readings rather than other platforms using different measurement methods.
He said nearly 80 per cent of complaints the department receives annually relate to open burning, which remains a major contributor to the haze, and that enforcement against it continued to be intensified.
Mr Rosli said the onset of the Northeast Monsoon, expected around mid-October, could help ease the haze's impact on Malaysia as wind patterns shift, even though fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan had not yet stopped. He said monitoring would be strengthened to ensure domestic fires did not become a source of haze after the monsoon's arrival, using weather forecasting collaboration and satellite imagery.
