Stop open waste burning - JAS

KEPALA BATAS - Penang's Department of Environment (JAS) has warned the public to not conduct open burning as the country is currently hit by the El Nino phenomenon.

Its director Norazizi Adinan said in order to curb the act of open burning, his department is now actively monitoring the entire state every day.

According to him, those who are found committing such acts can be subject to legal action according to Section 29A (2) or 29B of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

"Convicted, individuals can be fined up to a maximum of RM500,000 or imprisoned for up to five years.

"So, we hope the community will take care of the environment and not make the situation worse because aside from existing problems, our air quality is also affected by haze from other countries," he said when met after officiating the Briefing Programme on the Prohibition of Open Burning with Seberang Perai Utara Federal Wisma (SPU) staff at Federal Wisma SPU on Friday.

Meanwhile, Norazizi said the department received 333 complaints regarding open burning from the beginning of this year until last April.

He explained that a total of 229 recorded cases of air pollution complaints were recorded while the rest involved air pollution complaints caused by open burning.

"Actually, we can see a decrease of 48 per cent following the 933 complaints received last year as compared to 710 cases in 2021," he said.