Malaysia hopes Indonesia will ratify the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution so that the annual haze problem in the region can be tackled more effectively, said Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister S. Sothinathan. He said Indonesia had yet to ratify the agreement because its parliament had not endorsed it. "Although cooperation with Indonesia on this has been very good, we will not be getting the full impact of the agreement if it is not ratified," he told reporters after opening the ministry's annual sports meet here Friday. He was commenting on Malaysia's readiness to brace for a dry spell expected from July to October as a result of the El Nino phenomenon. He added Malaysia's cooperation with Indonesia on the matter so far this year had borne much fruit as almost 65 per cent of heat soil fires in the republic had been overcome compared to 50 per cent before, according to a report of the Malaysian news agency "Bernama."
