KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) has succeeded in putting out open burning in over 1,721.29 hectares of land from January to yesterday, said its director Abdul Razak Muda.
However, he said Sabah JBPM is now fighting to douse 62.56 hectares of burning sites in the west coast of the state.
He said during the same period, JBPM also received 1,011 open burning reports with the highest cases involving bush and grassland fires with 580 cases, followed by forest fires 368 cases, farm and plantation fires 59 cases and four cases of peat fire.
He said Tuaran received the most open fire reports, with 220 reports, followed by Kota Belud with 140 reports, Kota Kinabalu (95 reports), Lintas (82 reports), Penampang (63 reports), while Kimanis and Kuala Penyu each had 58 reports.
“Sabah JBPM advises the public not to carry out open burning, especially during this dry season and hot weather. Those caught for such violation can be prosecuted according to the law,“ he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Meanwhile, in the effort to monitor and prevent open burning, Sabah JBPM deputy director Farhan Sufyan Borhan said the department is closely monitoring areas at high risk of fire in the state, especially in areas with peat soil.
He said that one of the main focus areas of Sabah JPBM is the peat land of about 200,000 hectares in Beaufort which will have a significant impact if there is an open fire in the area.
“The peat land in Beaufort is the second largest in the country with the largest area in Sarawak. When there is a fire in this peatland, extinguishing it is not easy and it will cause a very thick haze.
“We also seek the cooperation of the residents in the area to be careful and not conduct open burning, as we have identified open burning was started the people themselves,“ he said.
As a record, Malaysia has around 2.6 million hectares of peat land nationwide, of which 80 per cent is in Sarawak with the largest area in Sibu, and five per cent in Sabah, the largest in Beaufort, while the rest is in the Peninsula. -Bernama
