by Libau Rentap

Sarawak turned into an environmental Twilight Zone

Well, the poisonous smog (a.k.a. the �haze�) is back! And while it is not from outer space like the aliens of �Men in Black�, it might as well be since nobody is being told the cause of the smog, where it is coming from, how bad the situation is or what we have to do to protect ourselves and our children from it.

In other words, not only is the smog fast turning Sarawak into a environmental Twilight Zone, the government is also giving it the Twilight Zone treatment by deliberately keeping everyone in the dark about the real situation. Neither is the government doing much by way of pressuring those responsible to put out the fires.

The smog began almost imperceptibly during the week of 11 August but it soon gripped everyone and everything in a choking veil of toxic smog. The last time there was this much smog and poison in the air was in 1997. Then, the federal government declared an �emergency� in Sarawak but did little else to assist people cope with the poisonous smog. One stupid federal minister even went so far as to suggest a possible evacuation of the total population of Sarawak! The Sarawak Meteorological Department dutifully announced the Air Pollution Index (API) daily before the government suppressed it after it breached the 800 mark.

Not only was there a sharp rise in respiratory health complaints throughout the state then, it was also popularly believed that there was a spate of �premature fatalities� among the infirm caused by the poisonous smog but not officially reported as such. Economically, Agence-French Press also recently estimated that the 1997 toxic smog cost the Southeast Asian region approximately US$9.3 billion in economic losses.

Ironically, the only reliable source of meteorological information on the present smog in Sarawak is the Singapore Meteorological Service website. As of 19 August, it reported 982 hotspots throughout Indonesian Kalimantan, 169 hotspots in Sumatra and numerous other hotspots in both Sabah and Sarawak. Web news portal Malaysiakini.com also reported that as of 21 August, visibility in Sarawak was down by more than 90 percent, with flights by many small aircraft cancelled.

The API has risen consistently since 11 August but the government refuses to say by how much. Indeed, it is arguable if the government even officially acknowledges the present smog as a problem. After all, to do so might affect tourist arrivals!

In 1997, the government promised to tackle this issue decisively. It announced that it would push for a cessation of open burning of forests with local and Indonesian authorities. And yet, the current poisonous smog only proves how ineffective the government has been in getting the Indonesians (as well as Malaysians) to cease open burning.

One is reminded how in 1997, when the poisonous smog first appeared, the Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Taib Mahmud beat a hasty retreat overseas via private jet ostensibly to �seek a technological solution to the �haze� problem�. By current eyewitness accounts, the return of the poisonous smog this year only proves that his �mission� overseas was an exercise in futility. Nevertheless, while Sarawakians coughed, choked and gasped their way through the 1997 smog, he certainly enjoyed pristine air quality overseas while �on mission�. Perhaps this time around, if he has not already left on another �overseas mission� in search of a further �technological solution�, he will show some solidarity with his fellow suffering rakyat by coughing, choking and gasping his way through the smog too?

Meanwhile, the local Health Department has drawn up a contingency plan which includes an utterly ridiculous list of �Do�s and Don�t�s� - that it will put into place if the toxic smog situation �deteriorates �. Perchance the list will include, �Don�t Breathe�. No doubt, this is the government�s best Twilight Zone response to a Twilight Zone problem. With a bit of luck, the Health Department's contingency plan will remember to include for mass distribution a �Do-It-Yourself� CD-ROM on how to beam oneself - Star Trek-style out of the smog.

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