GEORGE TOWN, June 24 — A state of emergency should be declared in areas where the Air Pollutant Index (API) is above 300 while all schools should be automatically closed when it reaches 150, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Unimpressed with the Barisan Nasional federal government’s ‘lackadaisical and irresponsible’ attitude in handling the haze crisis shrouding the country in the past week, Lim said a state of emergency should have been declared in Muar and Ledang when the API readings reached 300 and not wait until after it exceeds 700.

The Department of Environment states that an API reading of more than 300 is hazardous to health.

“Therefore, all areas with API readings of 300 or more should be under a state of emergency and not wait until it exceeds 700 so Malacca should also be under a state of emergency as the API reading there is above 300,” Lim said.

He criticised both the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Natural Resources and Environment minister Datuk Seri G.Palanivel for being irresponsbile in declaring a state of emergency status only after API readings reached 746 yesterday.

“Many are already falling sick in Johor, Selangor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan and all school principals in areas with API above 100 should be given the full discretion to decide whether to close schools,” he said.

He added that automatic closure of schools should be implemented when the API reaches 150.

He pointed out that the federal government’s lackadaisical attitude had caused Malaysians to lose out once again to Singaporeans as the Singapore government had been proactive by buying up one million N95 masks to be distributed free to its citizens, causing the masks to be out of stock here.

“Even though the haze situation in Penang is presently under control, I have directed both the State Secretary Datuk Farizan bin Darus and Penang State Exco for Environment Phee Boon Poh to replenish stock of the N95 industrial face masks but it is out of stock,” he said.

The Prime Minister had ordered that all ministries and agencies involved in haze disaster management at the federal, state and district levels must take measures to protect the safety and health of the public so Lim had also directed the state secretary and Phee to be be prepared.

“I have directed them to hold meetings and direct officers to be prepared to implement guidelines and actions to manage any haze crisis that may impact Penang,” he said.

For now, Lim said Penangites can only pray that the haze will not worsen in the state.

So far, the API readings in the state are still in the moderate level while several districts in Johor, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan recorded readings at unhealthy and above hazardous levels.

The haze crisis in Malaysia had hit an all time high in 16 years when the API readings reached 750 in Muar, Johor on Sunday morning leading the government to declare a state of emergency for Muar and another badly hit district, Ledang.

Haze is an annual problem faced by Malaysia when the westerly monsoon winds carry smoke and ash particles from forest fires in Sumatera.

The forest fires are believed to be caused by illegal slash-and-burn land clearing in the Indonesian state which the Indonesian government had blamed on Malaysian and also Singaporean plantation companies for being the ones behind the forest fires.

Hundreds of schools in the southern districts in Malaysia have been closed since last Thursday due to the thick haze shrouding the areas and today, all schools in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malacca and Port Dickson were ordered to be closed due to worsening API readings in these areas.

The government had also announced its intentions to start cloud-seeding in hopes that rain will reduce the level of pollution in the worst-hit areas but this was put on hold due to the current dry spell.