SK Gita headmaster Jamain Sarapa helps to adjust the face mask of a student who arrived to sit for his UPSR examination. A total of 112 students are taking the public examination at the school. – Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: Air quality in Sarawak has improved dramatically this morning with only Sri Aman recording ‘very unhealthy’ air pollutant index (API) reading of 201 as of 8am.
The Department of Environment also recorded ‘unhealthy’ API readings at only two monitoring stations – Kuching (160) and Samarahan (127).
The other 10 stations in the state had moderate API readings of below 100.
An API reading for good air quality is from zero to 50, 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 is very unhealthy and 300 and above is hazardous.
Over the last few days, Sarawakians, especially those in the southern region of the state, were suffocated by a thick blanket of haze.
At its height, as many as 9 out of the 13 air quality monitoring stations throughout the state had ‘unhealthy’ to ‘very unhealthy’ API readings at the same time.
Students arrive in school for their UPSR examination donning face masks. – Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
The haze, which began to worsen over the weekend, has caused schools to close around the city, though those sitting for their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examinations will have to sit for their papers despite the poor air quality.
Based on information on the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s website, it appears that the improved conditions were due to a drastic drop in the number of hotspots in Kalimantan and rain over certain parts of the state.
An image on the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre shows hotspots, the haze, rainfall and wind direction in Borneo yesterday.
However, the wind direction continues to be blowing from over Kalimantan’s hotspot areas towards Sarawak.
According to a news report yesterday, Indonesia had dispatched some 9,000 personnel to fight the forest and peat fires plaguing Kalimantan, causing the trans-boundary haze which has worsened as wind directions force it upwards towards major cities and towns in Borneo.