File photo of a cloud seeding operation being carrying out above Bintulu.
KUCHING: The authorities will be holding cloud seeding operations from tomorrow until Sunday to counter haze in areas with very unhealthy air quality.
The affected areas are Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Sibu, Sarikei and Mukah, if taking into account the latest Air Pollutant Index (API) readings.
“Depending on where we can find suitable cloud, that area will be covered first,” said State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) secretariat head Major Ismail Mahedin when contacted today.
It will start-off with the operation team giving Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also State Disaster Management Committee chairman a briefing at around 8am tomorrow at the Malaysian Air Force base here.
The operation proper is scheduled to start at around 12pm tomorrow.
Meanwhile, as of 4pm today, six divisions registered very unhealthy air quality with Kuching recording the highest API reading of 266, followed by Sibu (247), Sarikei (238), Samarahan (220), Sri Aman (210) and Mukah (208).
Other areas registering unhealthy API readings were Bintulu at 142, Samalaju (134), Miri (107) and ILP Miri (106).
Areas registering moderate API readings were Kapit (96) and SK Baram (94) and Limbang (81).
A total of nine hotspots were found in Sarawak namely in Belaga (one), Marudi (two) and Tatau (six).
In neighbouring Indonesia, a total of 788 hotspots were recorded and 261 hotspots were recorded in Sumatera.