69 per cent drop in open burning cases in Johan Setia in five years - DOE

SHAH ALAM - A total of 33 open burning complaints were recorded in the Johan Setia area, Klang as of this month, a 69 percent drop compared to 2019 said Department of Environment (DOE) director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar.

He said the decrease in complaints involving Johan Setia, which is a 10,095-hectare fire-prone area, was a result of the cooperation between the department and other agencies in controlling fire incidents.

He said the Drainage and Irrigation Department has built five units of check dams while the Department of Minerals and Geosciences has constructed five units of tube wells and 16 units of piezometers in efforts to curb fire disaster.

"With this infrastructure, open burning complaint statistics for five years in the Johan Setia area recorded a significant dip of 69 per cent, which is 33 cases as of August this year compared to 95 complaints in 2019," he said in a statement today.

Wan Abdul Latiff said there were no non-compliance incidences with the open burning regulation under Section 29A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 in the area reported this year. - BERNAMA