KUALA LUMPUR: Air quality in Sri Aman, Sarawak, has deteriorated to a very unhealthy level, reaching 223 as of 6pm on Friday (Aug 28), while 21 other areas nationwide also recorded unhealthy levels.
Environment Department deputy director-general (development) Azuri Azizah Saedon said the other 44 areas recorded moderate air quality levels, while only one area was in the good category.
Among the areas with unhealthy API readings in Sarawak were Serian (182), Samarahan (168), Sarikei (166) and Kuching (162).
Areas in Peninsular Malaysia with unhealthy air quality are Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (159); Seberang Perai (159) and Minden (158) in Penang; Alor Setar (154) and Sungai Petani (154) in Kedah; Taiping (154) in Perak, Seberang Jaya (153) in Penang and Batu Muda (153) in Kuala Lumpur.
Also affected are Shah Alam (153) in Selangor; Sibu (153) and Bintulu (151) in Sarawak; Putrajaya (133); Tanjung Malim (128), Tasek (122) and Ipoh (122) in Perak; Petaling Jaya, Selangor (126); Seremban, Negri Sembilan (115) and Johan Setia (114) in Selangor.
"The quality of air in the country today was found to have deteriorated, with several areas on the west coast states of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak recording unhealthy API readings amid haze movement from various directions," she said in a statement on Friday (Aug 28).
Azuri Azizah said that based on the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) report on Thursday (Aug 28), satellite images detected 514 hotspots in Kalimantan, 176 in Sumatera, while three hotspots were detected in Malaysia, one each in Johor, Sarawak and Terengganu.
She added that the ASMC Regional Haze Map showed dry conditions across much of southern Asean, while moderate-to-dense haze was observed in western Borneo.
She said moderate-to-dense smoke plumes were observed in several areas in Kalimantan and in central and southern Sumatera, with several air quality monitoring stations recording air quality levels ranging from unhealthy to hazardous.
Following this, the DOE has intensified enforcement and daily patrols in areas prone to open burning and has also activated the National Open Burning Action Plan and the National Haze Action Plan.
The DOE also advised landowners to monitor areas prone to fires, such as landfills, forests, peatlands, plantations, agricultural areas and industrial sites and to take measures to prevent encroachment that could lead to open burning. – Bernama
