(Oct 23): Choked with smoke and recording unhealthy air for the last two days, Penang has urged Indonesia to take stern action and deal with the smoke crisis caused by burning plantation land in the republic.

State excos Dr Afif Bahardin (health), Phee Boon Poh (environment) and Danny Law (tourism), accompanied by assemblymen Cheah Kah Peng and Yap Soo Huey, today handed over a memorandum addressed to President Joko Widodo at the Indonesian Consulate-General in George Town.

The memorandum urged Jakarta to take legal action against those who have caused the smoke pollution and to ban the burning of forests for agriculture.

Dr Afif said new measures were necessary to stop burning activities that caused the annual smoke pollution crisis in the Southeast Asian region.

"We also call on the Indonesian government to accept aid and any assistance offered by the Malaysian government to end this crisis.

"Penang and Indonesia have always enjoyed close ties and our relationship should not be defiled by this pollution crisis.

"Stern and proactive action by Indonesia together with the cooperation from regional neighbours in tackling this crisis will further strengthen our friendships and efforts to build a healthy Asean community," he said at a press conference at the consulate-general after presenting the memorandum to Indonesian Consul for Consular Affairs Sofiana Mufidah.

Asked to comment on deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's statement that Malaysia would not pressure Indonesia over the worsening haze because it would be unfair when Jakarta had already requested help from its neighbours to fight fires in Sumatra, Dr Afif said Penang's intention was to state its views regarding the crisis and to voice support for the ongoing efforts to end the pollution.

"We understand the worsening situation is also due to the dry weather. That is why we need a collective effort from the countries involved to tackle the problem.

"We also welcome news that Indonesia is taking action on some 300 offenders responsible for the fires," he said.

Sofiana said the Indonesian government regretted the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Borneo that caused choking smoke across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

She said her government was optimising its resources at a national level to deal with the fires through efforts that included water bombing, cloud seeding and firefighting on land; as well as implementing preventive measures like building canals and retention basins at various locations across the republic.

"The government is very serious in taking legal action against those responsible. Over 200 suspects and 30 corporations are facing the law.

"We also thank our friends including Malaysia for lending us aid, equipment and personnel to fight the fires," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Afif added that Putrajaya should consider setting aside a special healthcare allocation following the haze crisis, which has made many people ill.

"The Health Ministry is already facing budget cuts so we hope that in view of the situation, the government can consider setting aside a special allocation," he said. – The Malaysian Insider