Air quality drops in Klang Valley and Sarawak

Star: PETALING JAYA: Scattered rain and thunderstorms are expected early next week bringing much needed respite to the current hazy situation.
The haze worsened in parts of the country yesterday as Indonesia continues to record a high number of hotspots causing transboundary haze, according to the Department of Environment website.
Air quality deteriorated in parts of the Klang Valley and Sarawak yesterday with Sri Aman in Sarawak and Nilai in Negri Sembilan recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) levels of 106 and 101 respectively.
As of 5pm yesterday, 38 locations recorded moderate air quality and only 10 had healthy readings. On the brink of hitting unhealthy API readings were Petra Jaya (92), Sarikei (92) and Kuching (93) in Sarawak, Bukit Rambai (91) in Malacca and Kuala Selangor, which recorded 96 on the API.
Healthy API readings are between 0-50, moderate 51-100, unhealthy 101-200 and very unhealthy at 201-300. Air quality is deemed to be hazardous once the API hits above 300.
A Meteorological Services Department forecast officer said that this weekend was expected to be dry as the inter-monsoon season was only expected to arrive early next month.
More rain is expected throughout the country when the wet season commences in the later part of next month.
The situation, he said, was expected to improve as the south westerly wind direction should change over the next few days.
On Thursday, 554 hotspots were recorded in southern Sumatra, he said. Satellite pictures yesterday recorded 629 hotspots in Borneo, mostly in Kalimantan.
As at 9pm yesterday, the department recorded very poor visibility levels of 5km and less in Labuan, Kuantan, Malacca, Kuching, Sri Aman, Bintulu and Miri. Sri Aman recorded the poorest visibility at 2km. Normal visibility is more than 10km.
Meanwhile, those who feel eye or throat irritation are advised to get treatment.
“Other common symptoms include flu, cough and cold but will only be felt after a few days. The haze will especially affect asthmatic patients and those with low immune-resistant such as children and the elderly.
“Try and avoid outdoor activities, drink lots of fluids and refrain from smoking,” said said Dr J. S. Deo, chairman of the Malaysian Doctors Co-operative Society.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) feels that the haze in parts of Sarawak is believed to have originated from fires in Indonesia.
NREB state enforcement chief Dania Goyog said: “We have conducted intensive checks all over the state.
“The slash-and-burn shifting cultivation in the state's interiors had already stopped for this year.”
“Our finding is that the haze is transboundary,” he said after a visit to central Sarawak.
Goyog said the NREB's statewide ban on open burning imposed three months ago was still in place and was being strictly enforced in all divisions.
Department of Environment Miri chief Norina Frederick said the department had earlier in the week detected a few local sources of fires in central Sarawak, but they were not serious and did not cause the haze.
The state Meteorological Services Department said southern Sarawak was expected to continue experiencing hazy conditions because of the prevailing dry spell. The monsoon will begin in the middle of next month.
“For Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman divisions, the dry weather will last until the monsoon starts, while the central and northern Sarawak regions are expected to have isolated showers in the afternoon and late evening in the next few days,” a forecaster said.
Parts of Singapore were also shrouded in haze caused by smoke blown from burning forests in southern Sumatra.