Selangor govt to seize land carrying out open burning
The menteri besar says stern action is needed because farmers are ignoring an order to stop the activity.
KLANG: The Selangor government will confiscate land where open burning by farmers persists, Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari warned today.
He said stern action was needed as farmers, especially in the Johan Setia area here, were still carrying out open burning despite the state government having issued an order to stop.
“Open burning for carrying out agricultural activities has, to some extent, worsened the haze situation hitting the country now.
“We will ensure that confiscation is done according to procedure as it’s not easy to seize these plots of land as some are leased out or encroached upon for growing vegetables,” he said after attending a debating competition here today.
Amirudin said no arrests have been made so far as open burning is carried out at night or early morning.
“When we went to such locations, the land owners were not there and we didn’t know their whereabouts. But we had to put out the fires before looking for those who carried out the open burning,” he said.
According to the Department of Environment website, the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Johan Setia was 204 at 1pm today.
Elsewhere in the state, Klang recording a reading of 150 and Banting 155.
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An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates the air is good, 51-100 moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above hazardous.