PUTRAJAYA: The Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Tangkak, Johor and Malacca Town has surpassed the very unhealthy level as at 11am with readings of 253 and 220 respectively.
The Department of Environment (DOE) in a statement today said the situation was due to the transboundary haze and several incidents of fires on the bush and private land.
“There was a peat forest fire in Mukim Jorak in Muar which was being handled by firefighters. The fire caused a hazy situation in the surrounding area,” he said.
According to the statement, schools in Pontian, Muar and Tangkak were closed until the API reading reduced to below 200.
It added that forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia still caused the transboundary haze and causing the API readings to rise in all areas along the west coast, southern and eastern Peninsular Malaysia as well as western Sarawak.
The DOE said based on an analysis by Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) on satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA-20, there were 708 hotspots in Kalimantan and 477 hotspots in Sumatra.
In contrast, seven hotspots detected in Malaysia namely in Sarawak (four), Sabah (two) and Pahang (one).
The DOE said a regional haze map released by ASMC yesterday also showed that smoke haze was observed emanating from the forest fires in eastern, western, central and southern Kalimantan, as well as from the provinces of Jambi in Riau and Lampung.
“The prevailing winds from the northwest has blown the smoke haze from Kalimantan and Sumatra to affect the western parts of Sarawak and the whole of Peninsular Malaysia, causing the API readings in those areas to shoot up to unhealthy and very unhealthy levels,” it added.
Also, the DOE explained that 24 stations recorded unhealthy API readings today, including 11 in Sarawak and two in Sabah.
The stations that recorded unhealthy API readings were Kuching (193), Samarahan (180), Sarikei (169), Sri Aman (167), Sibu (157), Bintulu (144), ILP Miri (129), Mukah (121), Samalaju (112), SK Kuala Baram 2 (111), Miri (110), Sandakan (107) and Tawau (105).
In Johor, five stations also recorded unhealthy API readings namely Batu Pahat (186), Segamat (165), Larkin (165), Kluang (153) and Pasir Gudang (109).
Other stations in Peninsular Malaysia that also recorded unhealthy API readings were Bukit Rambai (192) and Alor Gajah in Malacca (161), Port Dickson (188) and Seremban in Negri Sembilan (105) as well as Rompin (115) and Indera Mahkota Kuantan in Pahang (108). — Bernama
