Govt mulls cloud seeding to tackle Kuantan peatland blaze

The Star

The government will consider cloud seeding operations as an alternative measure to extinguish the fire at a coconut plantation along the Kuantan-Sungai Ular Bypass in Pahang, said Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad in a press conference on March 6.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/2vwdyj38   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00National Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nick Nazmi Nick Ahmad on Thursday

00:08visited a coconut plantation destroyed by a peatland fire in Pahang.

00:12He said the government will consider cloud seeding operations as an alternative measure

00:17to extinguish the fire in the area along the Kuantan-Sungai Ular bypass.

00:23He said the decision will depend on necessity and weather conditions, with consultations

00:28required with the Malaysian Meteorological Department and Fire and Rescue Department.

00:34He said cloud seeding cannot be carried out abruptly, as a thorough assessment is required

00:39to ensure the clouds are suitable for the process.

00:42The peatland fire, now in its 14th day, has destroyed approximately 130 hectares of coconut

00:48plantations and has spread to nearby forested areas since it began on February 22.

00:55Nick Nazmi said the fire suppression efforts in the area currently include the use of helicopter

01:00for waterbombing, firebreaks, flooding the affected areas and direct firefighting.

01:07He said so far, they had extinguished the fire on 43 hectares of the area.

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