PETALING JAYA, July 9 ― Petaling Jaya residents awoke this morning to the acrid stench of smoke and sight of the familiar haze that may portend the return of the toxic pollution that sent parts of the country into a brief emergency last month.
Despite a brief downpour here in the morning, visibility was reduced up until noon by the dreaded shroud of pollution.
But a check with the Department of Environment’s website at 11am revealed that the air pollutant index (API) levels here and in parts of the Klang Valley remained in the moderate zone.
The highest API recorded was in Banting, at 77, while Port Klang was listed as 74. The reading for Petaling Jaya was, however, withheld on the site.
By official measures, API readings between 51 and 100 are considered “moderate”, while the 101 to 200 range is considered “unhealthy”.
Air quality between 201 and 300 is “very unhealthy” while “hazardous” is applied to API scores topping 300. Readings of 500 or more will trigger an emergency.
Two fatalities were attributed to breathing complications caused by the haze last month, which had led authorities to declare emergencies in Muar and Ledang.
The leaders of both Malaysia and Indonesia have called for the culprits responsible for the current pollution crisis — the worst in years — to be punished without regard to nationality.
Southeast Asia’s worst haze crisis took place in 1997-1998, causing widespread health problems and costing the regional economy billions of dollars as a result of business and air transport disruptions.
