Smog takes a bad turn

PETALING JAYA: Residents in 14 major cities are confounded yet again as the smog worsened today.
Tawau in Sabah, Banting in Selangor, and Malacca recorded the worst Air Pollutant Index (API) based on the Department of Environment’s (DoE) hourly readings.
As of 4pm, Tawau recorded 128 , Malacca City 119, Banting 118, Port Klang 115, and Batu Muda, Federal Territory, Nilai and Seremban 114 respectively.
The readings in other cities are no better with 112 in Bukit Rambai, Malacca; 106 in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan; 101 in Kuching and 110 in Samarahan, Sarawak; 108 in Petaling Jaya and 110 in Shah Alam, Selangor; and 109 in Putrajaya.

Two departure and arrival flights at the Tawau Airport were cancelled because of limited visibility due to the haze.

The airport manager, Yaakob Abu Bakar told Bernama said the flights involved the Kota Kinabalu-Tawau-Kota Kinabalu sector by MASWings and Malaysia Airlines.

He said three flights for the Kota Kinabalu-Tawau-Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur-Tawau-Kuala Lumpur sectors by MASWings and AirAsia were also delayed
because of that.

"The airport was closed at 8am due to the haze and reopened at 10am," he said

However, he said the situation at the airport was under control and the airport authority, with the cooperation of the Department of Civil Aviation and the Meteorological Department Civil, is constantly monitoring the situation.

Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu Airport manager Sunif Naiman said a MASWings Flight MH2121 to Tawau, which was diverted back to Kota Kinabalu, had to be diverted to Brunei because of the rain. – Bernama