KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Depart­ment of Environment (DOE) has stepped up enforcement and surveillance at open burning hot spots to

tackle the haze

As at July 30, a total of 4,247 patrols and 859 aerial surveillance missions using drones had been carried out.

The director-general said the DOE monitors the air pollution index hourly from its environmental data centre in Putrajaya via 68 surveillance stations nationwide.

“We need to give serious attention to the haze as it can impact the health of the people,” he said in a media engagement session here on July 31.

He added that 27 offenders had been charged in court, while 59 compound notices had been issued to other parties since January.

The DOE had also extinguished fires with the assistance of 13 agencies under a joint initiative.

Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff said Malaysia is also working closely with neighbouring countries under the Asean Agreement on Trans­boundary Haze Pollution to prevent and mitigate forest and peat fires.

“Through this platform, Malaysia has proposed initiatives for neighbouring countries to adopt, in order to eradicate open burning that may cause or worsen haze in the region,” he said.

On the issue of e-waste, he said the increasing use of electronic devices has led to a corresponding rise in e-waste.

Between January 2021 and June 2025, more than 536,709 tonnes of e-waste were recycled by DOE-approved companies.

Among the DOE...