KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Twenty-four locations across the country registered unhealthy air quality levels at 10am today, with Johan Setia in Selangor remaining the sole area with very unhealthy pollution.
According to the Environment Department’s Air Pollutant Index (API), the Klang Valley region was still the worst affected by the haze.
Virtually all areas in Kuala Lumpur and central Selangor registered API readings ranging from 104 in Kuala Selangor to 152 in Batu Muda, which are within the 101-199 band for unhealthy air.
Putrajaya’s haze situation also worsened from yesterday, with 140 API reading this morning.
Surrounding states were also increasingly affected by the haze, with three of the five — Seri Manjung (124), Tasek Ipoh (117), and Pegoh Ipoh (101) — monitoring stations in Perak now reporting unhealthy API readings.
Up north in Penang and Kedah, five of eight locations monitored are reporting unhealthy air levels, with the most severe being in Minden (113).
The south of the peninsula fared better, with only Tangkak (133) and Segamat (104) in Johor reporting unhealthy air along with Bandaraya Melaka (105) and Bukit Rambai (102) in neighbouring Melaka.
Sarawak appeared to be back to normal, with all locations reporting moderate air quality.
No location in Malaysia has a good API reading.
Indonesia has continued to deny responsibility for the transboundary haze and fended off offers to help it fight the fires raging in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he will write to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to express concern over the fires and haze.
Selangor said today that it will conduct cloud seeding in locations with an API reading over 200, which is currently limited to Johan Setia.
