PUTRAJAYA, Aug 8 — Air quality in the country has worsened, with five areas in Sarawak recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 8am today.

Department of Environment (DOE) deputy director-general (Development) Azuri Azizah Saedon said the five areas with unhealthy API are Serian (171), Kuching (154), Samarahan (154), Sri Aman (139) and Bintulu (124).

She also said that three areas recorded good air quality while 60 areas recorded moderate readings.

“Air quality in the country today has deteriorated, with an increase in the number of areas recording unhealthy API readings, especially in Sarawak, due to haze movement from various directions,” she said in a statement.

She said the Regional Haze Map issued by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) yesterday showed that dry weather conditions would continue over most parts of the southern Asean region today, except for isolated showers over northern Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, as detected through imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-20 satellite.

According to her, the report from ASMC, which is based in Singapore, showed that 643 hotspots were detected in Kalimantan, 17 in Sumatra and 25 in Malaysia (22 in Sarawak, two in Selangor and one in Terengganu).

“Hotspots were detected extensively in West Kalimantan, while isolated to scattered hotspots were detected in other areas in Kalimantan.

“Several hotspots were also detected, especially in several areas of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, southern and central Sumatra, as well as eastern Java,” she said.

She said moderate to thick smoke plumes were observed in West Kalimantan and moving northwards into western Sarawak.

Moderate to dense smoke plumes were also observed in other parts of Kalimantan and central Sarawak, while light to moderate smoke plumes were observed over southern and central Sumatra and eastern Java.

Azuri Azizah said the DOE has stepped up enforcement efforts and daily patrols in areas at risk of open burning, in addition to monitoring API readings from time to time.

She said the National Open Burning Action Plan and National Haze Action Plan have been activated to coordinate government agencies’ efforts in addressing open burning and dealing with haze situations in the country.

“The DOE, through the National Haze Action Plan, continuously monitors air quality and the measures to be taken are in line with the action plan involving all relevant agencies,” she said.

Azuri Azizah said that based on the National Haze Action Plan, the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) would activate the Disaster Management Committee at the district, level or central level when API readings exceed 150 for more than 24 hours.

Under the action plan, she said all outdoor activities would have to be suspended when API readings exceed 100, while schools, kindergartens and nurseries would have to be closed immediately when readings exceed 200.

“Cloud seeding operations will be carried out, subject to the presence of suitable clouds and appropriate weather conditions, when API readings exceed 150 for more than 24 hours,” she said.

She said the public could obtain the latest hourly API readings through via the DOE’s website at https://eqms.doe.gov.my/APIMS/main or the official MyJAS EQMS application on Google Play and the App Store.

Azuri Azizah also reminded the public not to carry out open burningh or allow their land and premises to be encroached upon, resulting in open burning being carried out intentionally or unintentionally.

“According to the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 2024, those found guilty of open burning can be fined a minimum of RM25,000 and up to RM1 million, or imprisoned for up to five years, or both, while a compound of up to 50 per cent of the maximum fine may also be imposed for each offence.

“Members of the public are asked to cooperate in putting out small fires and to report cases of open burning or fires to the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 or the DOE’s toll-free line at 1-800-88-2727,” she added. — Bernama