First the typhoon, now the haze

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KOTA KINABALU: Just a day after the strong tail wind of typhoon Nesat wreaked havoc on the west coast of Sabah, the state is now affected by a blanket of haze.

The director of the Meteorological Department, Abdul Malik Tussin, said visibility in Kota Kinabalu and Tawau had dropped to about six kilometres and eight kilometres respectively, while in Sandakan it was 10 kilometres and in Kudat at 20 kilometres, as at 11am yesterday.  The haze is believed to be blown in by the south-westerly wind from hotspots in Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sarawak.

The director of the Department of Environment (DOE), Abdul Razak Abdul Manan, however, said the air quality had remained at moderate levels in Sabah, adding that they were monitoring the situation.

Abdul Razak said the highest read Air Pollutant Index (API) in the State at 56 was in Tawau. According to the Air Pollutant Index Management System available on the department’s website, the API reading in Sibu was the highest in Sarawak at 80.