A friend from Sibu, Sarawak told me that when he was undergoing his routine medical checkup a week ago, he felt disturbed when told by the doctor to quit smoking. He told the doctor that he quit smoking 30 years ago and have not been smoking since then. The doctor was obviously puzzled as he told my friend that his chest x-ray reminiscent of a heavy smoker. My friend became worried as he thought that there could be some hidden causes to his unhealthy lung conditions.
Both of them looked at each other and then came to a conclusion that it could be the prolonged occurrence of haze that contributed to such unhealthy lung conditions. My friend is working in a plantation in Sibu where there seemed to be ongoing burning activities by plantation operators causing serious hazy conditions. Sometimes you can even get the burning smell all day especially over the past few months due to prolonged drought.
A couple of days ago when I was in Batu Niah, I noticed that plantation companies in interior areas were still carrying out burning despite of the unhealthy API in Miri. The authorities seem to close one eye on the burning activities carried out both by the natives and also plantation companies. As we always blame Indonesia for exporting smoke to our country year in year out during the dry spells, how much have the local authorities done to totally eradicate illegal burning?
Unhealthy air quality in Miri
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