PUTRAJAYA, Sept 6 — Nine stations, comprising seven in Sarawak and two in the peninsular, recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (IPU) readings today, according to a statement issued by the Department of Environment (DoE).
The stations in Sarawak are Kuching, Sri Aman, Samarahan, Sibu, Sarikei, Miri and Mukah, while the other two are Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur and Nilai in Negri Sembilan.
According to DoE, the haze from hotspots in Riau, Jambi and the Bangka islands, fanned by prevailing winds from the south-easterly direction to the south-west, caused the haze to spread towards peninsular Malaysia.
“The haze from western, central and southern parts of Kalimantan also caused moderate to unhealthy air in areas in the western part of Sarawak before moving to the South China Sea,” it said.
The department said the movement of moderate to heavy haze in Kalimantan could result in moderate to unhealthy air conditions and affect visibility on September 5 to 7 in the western parts of Sarawak, especially in Sri Aman, Samarahan, and Kuching.
Meanwhile, DoE said there were reported incidents of burning at illegal landfills in Selangor and peat bush fires in Kuala Baram, Miri in Sarawak and Kuala Manis, Pekan in Pahang, which could cause haze in the area.
Preventive and firefighting operations are being carried out by the Fire and Rescue Department and the local authorities, it said.
The department said based on the Singapore-based ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre (ASMC) report on Sept 5, satellite images of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 19 detected 203 hotspots in Sumatra, Kalimantan (811) and eight in Malaysia, with one of them in Johor and the others in Sarawak.
A regional map released by ASMC also showed smoke haze from forest fire areas in Riau, Jambi, southern Sumatra and Lampung moving into the Straits of Melaka entering peninsular Malaysia, it said. — Bernama
