Fire and rescue personnel dousing a bush fire near Bandar Seri Begawan. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Xinhua): A few areas in Brunei are experiencing localized hazy conditions due to bush and forest fires affecting air quality, local media Borneo Bulletin reported on Sunday.
Five hundred and thirty calls related to forest and bush fires were reported, affecting 584 hectares from January to March 23.
This is compared to the previous year, which saw 47 calls during the same period, according to the Fire and Rescue Department of Brunei.
These fires are scattered across national residential housing in Tanah Jambu, Meragang, Panchor, Mengkubau, Mentiri, Rimba, Lugu, Bukit Beruang, Seria and Panaga, and some in the Muara-Tutong Highway near Berakas Forest Reserve and Badas area, Seria Bypass and Rasau, according to a joint statement by the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe), the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD), the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department (BDMD), said a report from Borneo Bulletin.
The Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department forecasts that the daily maximum temperature will hover between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius, and the amount of rainfall for March will be slightly below normal. The weather is expected to be hot and dry with occasional hazy conditions.
The Pollutant Standard Index readings recorded from all the air quality monitoring stations (Particulate Matter 10) in the four districts of Brunei were relatively higher than normal. Overall, the air quality in Brunei was at good to moderate level, the Borneo Bulletin reported. - Xinhua
