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DOE bans open burning nationwide
KUALA LUMPUR
The Department of Environment (DOE) has banned open burning nationwide to help tackle problems caused by the current hot and dry spell.
The department has also put into action a plan to prevent and control all activities that could cause peat soil from catching fire.
The DOE, in a statement released on Wednesday, said it would act to prevent any action that could cause haze or worsen the air quality.
Enforcement activities against vehicles and factories that released excessive smoke would also be stepped up.
DOE said as a result of investigations up to Feb 19, a total of 458 open burning cases were detected, involving forests (103), farm land (199), industrial areas (17), building sites (14), garbage dumps (7), bushfires (92) and other cases (26).
It said 68 open burning cases were given compound fines and 22 given warning notices.
Under Section 29 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, any person found guilty of open burning can be fined not more than RM500,000 or jailed 5 years or both.
It said those issued compound notices faced a fine up to the maximum of RM2,000 for every case.
The Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Cheras on Wednesday reached the “unhealthy” category for three hours (at 3pm 127, 4pm 137 and 5pm 102). But by 6pm, the reading dropped to the “moderate” category.
