Air quality improves in Malaysia, with only 2 places recording unhealthy levels

PETALING JAYA - Air quality improved in Malaysia on Tuesday, with only two locations registering unhealthy levels.

As at 9pm on Tuesday, the places with the highest Air Pollutant Index (API) readings were Cheras in Kuala Lumpur (152) and Nilai (152) in Negeri Sembilan.

An API reading of zero to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 300 and above, hazardous. Other locations nationwide recorded either good or moderate air quality.

Through satellite images, the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) on Monday night detected two hot spots in Sumatra and 15 in Kalimantan – down from 121 and 122 respectively the day before. None was detected in Malaysia on Monday night.

Schools and kindergartens would be ordered to close if the API exceeds 200, said Environment Department director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar, and their outdoor activities must cease should the index cross 100.

As such, he said, the administration of all schools and kindergartens should constantly monitor the index, and arrangements to stop classes will have to be made if the level breaches 200.

The Environment Department has intensified enforcement and increased its daily patrols in areas prone to open burning.

In addition, the National Open Burning Action Plan and the National Haze Action Plan have been activated to coordinate the counter-action by government agencies in addressing the situation.

Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff urged landowners to closely monitor areas susceptible to fires and to take preventive steps to ensure that no irresponsible parties were encroaching and carrying out open burning on their land.

Members of the public are urged to help by putting out small fires and reporting open burning to the Fire and Rescue Department or the Environment Department.

Cloud-seeding operations would be carried out if the API remains at 150 for over 24 hours, said Mr Wan Abdul Latiff. However, that would depend on the presence of suitable clouds and weather at the affected location, he added.

On Monday, Indonesia’s Environment Ministry

denied accusations

that forest fires in Sumatra and its portion of Borneo island, which have blanketed some of its cities with thick haze, have also affected air quality in Malaysia.

The country’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency issued a face-mask order on Monday as a precautionary measure.

Over 760,000 students in the provincial capital Jambi city in central Sumatra started studying from home from Monday.

Civil servants categorised as “vulnerable”, including those who are pregnant or have chronic illness, have also been allowed to work from home.

As at 5.30pm on Tuesday, the ASMC said on its website that moderate to dense smoke haze continued to be observed over South Sumatra and Jambi provinces, where unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality was reported. THE STAR, THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK