'This is not Malaysia vs Indonesia', Syed Saddiq says amid haze row

KUALA LUMPUR: "This is not Malaysia versus Indonesia. Our flags are different, but when we struggle to breathe, the suffering is the same," said Muar member of parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

He was responding to criticism by former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi over his call for Asean to boycott Indonesia over recurring transboundary haze.

Syed Saddiq said the issue should not be viewed as a dispute between the two countries, but addressed through evidence-based action against any party found responsible for environmental pollution.

He said companies from Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore proven to have burned forests for profit should face action under Indonesian law.

"I will not protect polluters, even if they are from my own country. Do not choose sides based on whether a company is Malaysian, Indonesian or Singaporean. If they are proven to have burned forests for quick profits, take action," he said in a video posted on social media today.

Syed Saddiq also said large-scale plantation ownership alone was not proof of a company's involvement in forest fires.

On SG Guthrie, he claimed there was no evidence so far that the company had caused the fires. He said it had 67 teams comprising more than 1,000 trained personnel, drones and infrared equipment to tackle the problem, at a cost of more than RM800,000 a month.

He also cited a Greenpeace report, saying it recorded 19 haze source points in KLK's concessions compared with 6,811 others.

Syed Saddiq said Malaysia had offered assistance to tackle forest fires in Indonesia, including aircraft, three helicopters and personnel, but claimed the offer had received no response.

Lutfi was reported to have criticised Syed Saddiq's call for an Asean boycott, saying the haze crisis should not be used for cheap political publicity. He also highlighted the Indonesian firefighters who had died tackling the fires and the hundreds of thousands of Indonesians exposed to the smoke.

Syed Saddiq had made the boycott proposal while debating the 2027 Budget, calling for Asean countries to take action against the recurring haze, including cutting funding to companies linked to open burning and encouraging consumers to pressure businesses involved.

"You must treat them as parties to be boycotted in this region," he said.