PETALING JAYA: The haze continues to choke parts of Sarawak with Serian remaining the hardest hit as air quality there remained in the hazardous category.
This comes after the Air Pollutant Index (API) there rose to 391 as of press time yesterday, up from the 329 reading recorded on Wednesday.
Four other locations in the state have also recorded very unhealthy API readings, according to the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index Management System.
They are Kuching (285), Sri Aman (275), Samarahan (274) and Sarikei (206).
Hazardous API readings are above 300 while very unhealthy readings range between 201 to 300.
Some 14 locations nationwide meanwhile recorded unhealthy readings, with API readings ranging between 101 to 200.
In Sarawak, the locations are Sibu (180), Mukah (172), Bintulu (166), Samalaju (164), Kapit (157), ILP Miri (153), Limbang (151) and Miri (106).
In Sabah, areas recording unhealthy API readings are Kota Kinabalu (156), Politeknik Kota Kinabalu (156), Kimanis (155) and Keningau (154).
Labuan meanwhile recorded an API of 157 while Johan Setia in Selangor had a reading of 127.
Universiti Malaya meteorologist Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah said the current situation should not be labelled as just the haze, but an environmental disaster.
He said Indonesia should be pressured to establish a legislation that strictly bans open burning once a certain dry index is reached.
“This law can kick in when conditions are akin to a tinderbox ready to burn. This too, must be strictly enforced, with culprits facing harsh penalties including jail time, as a deterrence,” he said when contacted.
According to the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in Kalimantan and the southern and central parts of Sumatra while few to isolated hotspots were detected elsewhere in the southern Asean region. The ASMC on Aug 26 had also activated a Level 3 transboundary haze alert for the Southern Asean region.
“Moderate to dense transboundary haze were observed over northern parts of Borneo and the southwestern parts of the Philippines.
“Moderate to dense smoke plumes were also observed in many parts of Kalimantan and the central and southern parts of Sumatra,” said the ASMC.
It also said dry conditions are predicted to persist over many parts of southern Asean in the coming day.
“The hotspot and smoke haze situation is expected to stay elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with a continued risk of severe transboundary haze occurrence,” it said.
