The MMEA’s aerial water bomber was used in Miri and Sri Aman divisions.
MIRI: The worst regional haze since 1997 returned to Sarawak in August and September this year, forcing outdoor activities to be cancelled, schools to shut down, and even threatened to stop the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).
The IPL Miri station recorded a hazardous air pollutant index (API) reading of 442, the highest in the country, on Aug 22 due to the raging forest and peat soil fires in Kuala Baram.
The second highest reading at 407 was recorded in Sri Aman on Sept 17.
Even though there were just a few local hotspots during that period, Sarawak was still blanketed by the suffocating regional haze, mostly from fires in Kalimantan where 811 hotspots were detected on Sept 5.
As the air quality moved closer towards hazardous levels during the UPSR, it looked like the Mathematics papers on Sept 10 might have to be postponed.
The Meteorological Department and air force carry out cloud seeding operations.
However, as the API did not breach 300, Primary 6 pupils – many of whom wore masks – sat for the exam as scheduled.
On Sept 21, the Education Department ordered 1,037 schools, including 901 primary schools in 20 districts in Sarawak, to close.
A total of 325,391 students, including 60,509 in Kuching Division, stayed home while the Education Department distributed 69,000 face masks to 713 schools in Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Mukah, and Sibu divisions.
SK Kuala Baram was forced to close twice in 2019 due to local and regional haze.
In Miri, localised burning saw two schools forced to close twice this year due to haze and at least six major fires in the division in 2019, including two smaller scale fires near Eastwood Valley and Miri Airport, apart from Marudi.
After a big bush fire behind ILP Miri in February, the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) was again forced to call for helicopter water-bombing sorties on April 16 to support ground firefighting efforts against the raging peat swamp fire in Senadin and Kuala Baram.
The Curtin University Malaysia campus halted classes to keep students and staff away from the suffocating smoke and debris as fires raged nearby.
Firefighters battle peat soil fires in Kuala Baram.
Forest and peat soil fires flared up again on Aug 1 in Kuala Baram, forcing another round of water bombing on Aug 6 as over 331 acres.
By Aug 15, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s (MMEA) Bombardier CL-415 aircraft had to be roped in help as helicopter crew and ground personnel fought an uphill battle with the Kuala Baram fires.
This plane is able to release 6,000 litres of water on a single run and only needs about 12 seconds to refill its load from a body of water such as the sea, rivers, or lakes.
Water from the Baram River proved pivotal in putting out burning areas, helped by a heavy downpour on Aug 25.
However, dry weather the following week reignited fires in several areas of peat soil, which in turn led to thick smoke again.
Elsewhere, water sources dried up, causing a double whammy for 100,000 Sri Aman folk as they dealt with the regional haze and a water supply shortage.
This led State Disaster Management Committee chairman Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas called for MMEA to conduct water bombing operations between Lingga and Kampung STC.
After an initial hiccup, the plane managed to get water from Sungai Lingga 10 times and dumped some 60,000 litres on burning areas of Kampung STC in Sri Aman to the relief of the local community.
The committee also ordered tankers to supply water to affected local communities as water plants in Bayai, Stumbin, Seduku, Lingga, LDS, Engkilili, Melugu, and Pantu, reached critical levels following the hot and dry weather.
From the south to central Sarawak, air quality deteriorated to very unhealthy API readings in Kuching (266), Sibu (247), Sarikei (238), Samarahan (220), Sri Aman (210), and Mukah (208).
Cloud seeding operations began on Sept 20 using the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s C-130 aircraft.
Three cloud seeding operations were subsequently carried out in Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, Sarikei, Betong, and Sri Aman, with the Meteorological Department using a wet seeding method by dissolving sodium chloride in water.