Haze situation expected to improve with rainfall — Wan Junaidi

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KUALA LUMPUR: The haze situation nationwide is expected to improve gradually with rainfall occurring in the afternoon and evening, says Natural Resources and Environment Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said the regional zones were receiving weak winds from various directions, which caused the country to experience mild weather.

“Rain in one or two places can occur in the west coast of the peninsula in the early morning while in the afternoon, rain and thunderstorms in one or two places can occur in all states in the peninsula and all divisions in Sarawak as well as western Sabah,” he said in a statement on the air quality status here yesterday.

He said the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) report in Singapore yesterday revealed the 18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite images detected 83 hot spots in Kalimantan and 16 hot spots in Sumatra, Indonesia.

“Only one hot spot is detected in the country in Pahang,” he said.

The regional haze map issued by ASMC also showed moderate and thick haze from burning areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan was no longer moving in the direction of the peninsula and Sarawak due to various wind directions.

The Air Pollutant Index (API) up to 3pm yesterday revealed 12 places nationwide recording good air quality.

In another development, Wan Junaidi said the Department of Environment (DOE) up till last Wednesday detected 3,478 open burning cases throughout the country involving forest areas (593 cases), agricultural areas (1,194 cases), industrial areas (19 cases), construction areas (73 cases), landfills (96 cases), bush areas (688 cases) and other small scale open burning (815).

“During the same period, 216 open burning cases were issued with summons, 15 notices issued and 41 cases have been issued with Letters of Instruction, while 23 cases have been prepared with investigating papers for court action,” he said. — Bernama