KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has gone on the alert for haze with the state capital and Tawau recording unhealthy levels for over two days.
Tawau, the district straddling Indonesia’s north Kalimantan, recorded an air pollutant index (API) reading of 153 and Kota Kinabalu at 122 as of 11am yesterday while other areas such as Sandakan and Keningau remained at moderate levels.
State Department of Environment (DOE) director Nor Rashidah Mohd Ghazali said they were closely monitoring the transboundary haze from forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan.
She noted that a fire involving 202 stilt houses at the Kampung Numbak here on Sunday had also contributed to local air quality deterioration.
“No other major fires were reported around Kota Kinabalu,” she said, adding that the bush fires in Tuaran and Kota Belud, detected by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre in Singapore on Aug 29, had been extinguished with no more hotspots detected.
“Due to hot and dry weather, DOE is intensifying enforcement and daily patrols in areas prone to open burning, while monitoring API readings continuously.
“To date, 474 patrols under the Open Burning Prevention Operation have been carried out in the state,” she said.
Nor Rashidah reminded the public not to carry out open burning or allow their land/premises to be trespassed for such activities, warning that under Section 29(A) of the Environmental Quality Act, offenders may face fines of not less than RM25,000 and not more than RM1mil or imprisonment up to five years, or both.
A maximum compound of RM2,000 or up to RM500,000 may also be imposed for open burning offences.
The public was also urged to help extinguish small fires and report open burning or fire incidents to the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 or the DOE toll‑free line at 1‑800‑88‑2727.
Sabah, unlike neighbouring Sarawak, relatively enjoyed good air quality in the current dry spell despite its close proximity to northern Kalimantan where over 1,000 peat fires have been recorded.
API readings began to rise since Saturday.
