Malaysia maintains offer to help Indonesia tackle transboundary haze

BAGAN DATUK: Malaysia remains committed to its offer of assistance to Indonesia to address the transboundary haze affecting the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the matter had been discussed at the cabinet meeting last Friday to ensure that appropriate measures could be coordinated for the benefit of both countries.

Zahid said the Indonesian government had deployed more than 16,000 personnel along with various aircraft and firefighting helicopters, but aerial operations were facing challenges due to poor visibility. There was also a lack of cloud formations suitable for cloud-seeding operations.

"So, we sympathise with their situation. However, we still hope that this problem can be resolved because it is causing neighbouring countries, particularly Malaysia, to suffer the adverse effects of the haze on health, especially among those with conditions related to allergies caused by the haze," he told reporters this after launching the Bagan Datuk 2026 Sultan Nazrin Shah Bridge Run today.

Zahid said bilateral communication had already been initiated at the highest level with the Indonesian government leadership to discuss the current situation.

On today's running event, he said it had attracted 1,700 local and international participants, including from Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, France, India, Nepal and Thailand.

"It is better (organised) this year, but as was the case last year, heavy rain fell right up until now.

"Next year, we will upgrade it to a full marathon. Hopefully, more people will take part, and we pray that there will be no rain at that time," he said.

The event featured three categories, with the 5km run recording the highest participation of 759 runners (44.6 per cent), followed by the 21km category with 575 participants (33.8 per cent) and the 10km category with 366 participants (21.5 per cent).