PUTRAJAYA, Sept 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called for improvements to the existing Asean mechanism for addressing transboundary haze, stressing that the recurring problem required more serious regional attention due to its impact on public health.

“There is room for improvement,” Anwar told reporters after attending the Plantation and Commodities Ministry’s monthly assembly here.

He said Asean ministers needed to seriously review the effectiveness of the current regional mechanism, particularly as haze continued to affect neighbouring countries.

“I think the Asean ministers must seriously look at it because this is affecting lives, particularly children and babies,” he said.

Anwar was responding to questions on whether the existing Asean framework was sufficient and whether stronger enforcement measures were needed to address transboundary haze.

He said the recurring impact of haze across national borders highlighted the need to assess whether existing regional measures were effective enough.

On action against alleged perpetrators of fires, Anwar said such claims remained allegations, noting that most fires detected had been identified as forest fires.

“Most of the fires that we detected were forest fires,” he said.

Anwar also acknowledged that Malaysian companies operate in Indonesia and said Malaysia would not interfere if Indonesian authorities took action against Malaysian firms found to be responsible for fires.

“If there are Malaysian companies involved, we give room for Indonesia to take action. We certainly will not defend them,” he said.

His remarks come as Southeast Asia continues to face recurring episodes of transboundary haze, which can deteriorate air quality and pose risks to public health across national borders.