BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - Brunei has urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to strengthen their national preparedness and capacity to address the persistent issue of transboundary haze pollution, local media reported on Friday.

During the 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, Nor Imtihan, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Development of Brunei, made this call, according to Brunei's local daily Borneo Bulletin.

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Imtihan also said that Brunei experienced haze impacts from local fires and transboundary haze during the fourth week of March 2024 due to low rainfall and a high number of fires in the country, the newspaper reported.

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Brunei is a Southeast Asian country located in the northern part of Borneo Island, bordering Malaysia. The area is influenced by a tropical monsoon climate, and forest fires are more frequent during the dry season.