PETALING JAYA: Air quality across parts of Sarawak has remained at unhealthy levels, with Serian being the hardest hit.
As of 6pm yesterday, an Air Pollutant Index (API) of 201 was recorded in Serian, putting the district at a very unhealthy level.
Some 11 locations in the state recorded unhealthy API readings.
They were Kuching (185), Samarahan (182), Sri Aman (176), Bintulu (174), Sibu (166), Sarikei (164), Mukah (160), Miri (161), ILP Miri (154), Limbang (153) and Kapit (121).
Unhealthy API readings range between 101 and 200, while very unhealthy API readings range between 201 and 300.
Moderate API readings were recorded across the majority of Peninsular Malaysia as well as parts of Sabah, with readings ranging between 51 and 97.
This was in stark contrast to last week, where 38 areas across Peninsular Malaysia recorded unhealthy API readings.
Nine locations saw good API readings, with the majority being in the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia.
The highest API recorded during the current transboundary haze episode impacting Malaysia was 521 in Serian earlier this month.
On a related matter, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said haze and low visibility could persist until Sept 27 in western Sarawak due to the high number of hotspots in Kalimantan as seen through the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC) forecast.
The ASMC said dry conditions will prevail over most parts of the southern Asean region in the coming days.
Showers, however, are expected in northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia, the northern and central parts of Sumatra, as well as parts of Borneo.
“The hotspot and haze situation may improve in areas experiencing showers but also continue to stay elevated in areas experiencing prolonged periods of dry weather,” said the ASMC in its report yesterday.
It added dry weather prevailed over most parts of the southern Asean region the night prior with scattered hotspots detected in Kalimantan, while a few hotspots were also detected elsewhere in the southern Asean region.
“Moderate to dense smoke plumes were observed to emanate from hotspots clusters detected in many parts of Kalimantan, as well as the southern parts of Sumatra,” it said.
