Len Talif: State govt doing everything it can to tackle haze situation

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Len Talif speaking to reporters after officiating the NTFP carnival. Also with him is State Forest Department director Hamden Mohammad (left). Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING: The Sarawak government is doing everything in its power to tackle the haze situation currently affecting numerous areas in the state, says Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh.

He gave his assurance that the government is doing its best to tackle the problem and will continue to take action to contain the situation.

“All actions that we have taken and are currently undertaking, such as in Miri for instance, these are all within our control.

“We are working together with all the relevant agencies under the State Disaster Management Committee led by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggawh Embas, who is the committee chairman,” he told reporters after officiating the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Carnival Sarawak 2019 on behalf of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at Kuching Waterfront here today.

He stressed that the government has taken the necessary actions to alleviate the haze situation in Miri, which has been badly affected by increasingly high Air Pollutant Index (API) levels that have been recording hazardous air quality for several days now.

“What is most important is that we have done our best and although our best might not be good enough, we still have managed to contain it.

“But we are hoping that in the next one or two days, rain will come and hopefully this will reduce the haze,” he said.

According to Len Talif, the API readings for most towns in Sarawak are under 100, though some have on occasions risen to 150.

“Kuching and even Sarikei are still okay. In Sri Aman, it is because it is situated very near to the (Sarawak-Kalimantan) border and the wind is coming from the other side (Kalimantan).

“For Miri, the haze is due to the forest and peatland fire (in Kuala Baram),” he remarked.

As at 2pm, the API reading for Miri is at 131, rising from 126 at 12pm while the station at the Industrial Training Institute (ILP) Miri continues to record hazardous and very unhealthy air quality at 364 – a slight increase from its 12pm reading of 361.