Victims of Haze from Forest Fires in Malaysia

Mohd Rozi is a 45 years old businessman who has his restaurant in Parit Raja, Muar for the last 10 years. According to him, last year's haze in Muar was the worst he has ever seen. The air was extremely polluted and he could smell the burning at each breath. He, like many others, had suffered from sore throat, serious flu, watery red eyes, and terrible cough.
'We can never predict the weather but what we can do is take some clever counter solutions to prevent it to happen or to manage it well when it happens again’, Mohd Rozi says. The Malaysian government should have anticipated the haze and brief the locals on how to deal with it. He also says that the government agencies should coordinate the help and assistance in a smoother manner. There were reports of lack of intervention and most of the time the villagers have to seek out help on their own. The delays on help and a miscommunication between the villagers and government has somewhat created a friction between local community leaders, which is not helpful in such given circumstances.