Two consecutive days of drenching rain brought relief to the haze-hit and water-short Sabah capital reeling from the effects of forest fires and a dry spell along the west coast.
KOTA KINABALU: Blue skies returned to Kota Kinabalu after two consecutive days of drenching rain in the haze-hit and water-short Sabah capital reeling from the effects of forest fires and a dry spell along the west coast. Earlier, Chief Minister Musa Aman directed Sabah Forest Department (SFD) Director Sam Mannan to use whatever means to choke off the raging forest fires which had blanketed the skies with debris.
The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) had to be closed at one point as visibility was too poor. It’s not known whether the rains were the result of cloud-seeding operations carried out last Thursday by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Air Force.
“We are happy to report that the fires in Binsuluk and Pada Damit Forest Reserves have been doused,” said Mannan. “We are just mopping up the loose ends now.”
The rains had certainly helped, he added. “The fires in Keningau have more or less been suppressed. We are mopping up the smouldering logs. We are still monitoring the situation.”
In a previous statement, the SFD Director had also blamed suspected arsonists for the forest fires. He alleged that certain NGOs also encouraged individuals to set the forest on fire after their applications for land were not approved.
A major source of the haze was smouldering peat land in some 1,000 alienated hectares and 300 hectares peat swamp forest in Binsuluk, south of Beaufort along the west coast. The latest update from the SFD shows that almost 3,000 hectares of forest reserve and almost 10,000 hectares of alienated lands have been destroyed in eight districts including Keningau, Beaufort and Sook being the most affected. The fires in the Trusmadi Forest Reserve were put out after they initially destroyed some 660 hectares.
Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Masidi Manjun attributed the fire in the Binsuluk Forest Reserve to greedy hunters. “We also have some sick people in the community who throw cigarette butts and have a big laugh when they see the fire.”
“They don’t realize their own families may be affected. Where there’s fire, there’s smoke, smoke will create haze. We have to take this dry season seriously.”
According to media reports, quoting Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department Director-General Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim, there were 457 cases of fires including bush fires in Sabah within the first ten days of this month. He does not dismiss the El Niño phenomenon for the fires besides human factors like open burning.
