Jeremy Veno, Peter Boon & Antonia Chiam, [email protected]
Poor visibility along Jalan Stampin to Kuching International Airport
Kuching police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad helps put a facemask on a motorcyclist in front of the Padungan police station. At Roslan’s right is Community Policing Sarawak head Datuk John Lau.
The Rajang Port Authority (RPA) and surrounding areas are hardly visible due to haze.
A cyclist wears a facemask to protect himself against haze.
KUCHING: The dreaded trans-boundary haze from Kalimantan, Indonesia once again blanketed Kuching, Kota Samarahan and Sri Aman after a respite of barely three days.
According to the Department of Environment, all the three areas recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings of between 101 and 127 as of 2pm to 5pm yesterday. As of 4am, Sri Aman recorded the nation’s highest API reading of 102 which continued to rise to 121 as of 5pm.
In Kuching, the API reading started to increase from a moderate level of 70 to 96 in the wee hours to an unhealthy level from 1pm to 5pm with readings of 103 to 127.
The API in Kota Samarahan was at a moderate level of 70 at 3am which then continued to rise to an unhealthy level of 106 at 2pm to 123 at 5pm.
Other areas recorded good to moderate API as from 12am to 5pm yesterday – Sarikei (75-88), Bintulu (59-66), Sibu (68-77), Limbang (25-41), Kapit (33-59) and Miri (44-47).
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the return of the haze could be due to the change in wind direction from westerly wind to monsoon wind blowing to Sarawak and the peninsula.
“This changing wind direction brings uncertainty but not a serious haze. It is changing for the better and we can expect the haze condition to improve in early October,” said Wan Junaidi to The Borneo Post yesterday.
He also blamed the serious forest fires in Kalimantan as recorded by satellite readings by the Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) based in Singapore which identified a total of 474 hotspots in the region as of Sept 21. Three hotspots were also identified in Johor, Terengganu and Sabah.
A spokesperson from the Department of Environment (DOE) said they had alerted the National Security Council and the Health Department of the latest situation.
He assured that the Meteorological Department and Royal Malaysia Air Force would continue to carry out cloud-seeding as they were now waiting for the right kind of clouds in order to be effective.
“However, as observed, southern Sarawak gets very few cloud formations during the day. It tends to rain in the evening or night time,” said the spokesperson.
On the role of DOE, he said it would continue to be on the lookout for hotspots in the state.
Meanwhile in Sibu, an observation in the town yesterday noted reduced visibility, with the Rajang Port Authority’s building hardly visible. The same situation was seen at Kapit Wharf in Khoo Peng Loong Road.
Last week, very unhealthy air quality forced 398 primary schools and 65 secondary schools in the districts of Kuching, Padawan, Bau, Lundu, Kota Samarahan, Serian and Simunjan to close, affecting 185,000 students.
The air quality in Kuching, Serian and Samarahan divisions then had reached a very unhealthy level with API reading exceeding 200, prompting the state Education Department to close all schooling sessions.
State Disaster and Relief Committee chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu had explained that the Education Ministry’s standard operating procedure (SOP) required schools to be closed once the API exceeds 200.
He also said schools must not carry out activities outside classrooms when the reading is more than 150.
Despite the haze, Malaysia Airlines Berhad yesterday clarified that no flights at the Kuching International Airport were disrupted by the haze, with inbound and outbound flights all on schedule.
The API guide from the Department of Environment indicates that air quality is healthy if reading is 0-50, moderate if 51-100, unhealthy if 101-200, very unhealthy if 201-300 and hazardous if it is 301 and above. The guide also advises that outdoor activities be restricted when the reading breaches 100.