KUALA LUMPUR: Further improvements to the National Haze Action Plan could include reviewing alert levels, Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and the duration of persistent pollution, says Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup (pic).
The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister said the plan had been revised six times since 2002, most recently last year, to ensure coordination mechanisms and protective measures remained relevant and responsive to developments in the haze situation.
“We do not rule out the need to improve the action plan from time to time.
“To ensure coordination mechanisms and protective measures remain relevant and responsive to developments in the haze situation, future improvements could take into account alert levels, API readings, the duration of persistent pollution, relevant response measures and risks to public health and safety.
“This approach is important to ensure the actions of each agency can be coordinated more effectively in order to protect public health and well-being,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
He said the public can now plan ahead for potential haze conditions with a new platform that forecasts air pollution up to five days in advance.
Arthur added that the Malaysian Meteorological Department has developed the Malaysian Community Multi-Scale Air Quality Model which provides high-resolution forecasts of air quality conditions and atmospheric pollutant concentrations in Malaysia and across South-East Asia.
“In the context of haze management, the model can forecast potential air pollution and haze events up to five days in advance.
Responding to public concerns over differences between official API readings and those reported by platforms and independent applications, Arthur said the discrepancies could stem from variations in the scales, thresholds, categories, averaging periods, update times and data sources.
As such, Arthur said official API readings issued by the Department of Environment remained the government’s reference for determining air quality status and implementing haze management measures in the country.
