Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would introduce legislation to rein in recalcitrant local companies that turn a blind eye to open burning on their land outside the country.. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 18 — Putrajaya may enact a law to go after Malaysian companies with estates abroad that pollute the air and cause smog around South-east Asia. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the issue was discussed during today’s Cabinet meeting, adding that his government would introduce legislation to rein in recalcitrant local companies that turn a blind eye to open burning on their land outside the country.
“We want to take action against those Malaysian companies which have estates outside of Malaysia which are contributing towards the haze because of open burning in their estates. “We will ask them to take action to put out the fires, but of course if we find that they are unwilling to take action, we may have to pass a law which will make responsible for fires in their property even if it is outside Malaysia,” he told reporters at the Perdana Putra building here after launching the new foreign policy framework this afternoon.