KUCHING, Sept 21 — The Air Pollutant Index (API) in Sri Aman recorded a drastic fall from hazardous level (404) at 8pm last night to unhealthy level (113) at 2 pm today.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said as at today, several measures were taken including clouding seeding operation which began yesterday until tomorrow.
“Today, we hope to put out all hotspots in Sri Aman. If they were extinguished, the sources of smoke will be reduced.
“The operation to put out forest and peat fires was also carried out at Kampung STC here using a Fire and Rescue Department MI-171 helicopter,” he told reporters here today.
He said the Bombardier CL-415 aircraft of the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) was also on the way to the area to carry out water bombings.
Two days ago, the aircraft which arrived at Kampung STC was unable to conduct fire-fighting operation following several technical problems as well as the lack of water sources as water from nearby rivers could not be used.
This is the first time Sri Aman was confronted with hazardous air quality when its API reading surpassed 400 yesterday. — Bernama
