KUCHING: Members of the public are strongly advised not to engage in any open burning activities that could affect air quality and worsen the situation.
The State Disaster Management Committee said in a statement yesterday that at 3pm, an Air Pollution Index (API) reading of 390 was recorded at the Miri Industrial Training Institute (ILP) — it was classified as hazardous.
“One station has recorded unhealthy air quality from SK Kuala Baram 2 while the remaining 11 stations showed moderate readings,” it stated.
The air quality monitoring stations in ILP Miri and SK Kuala Baram 2 Sarawak showed a significant increase in the readings due to fire in the area.
Meanwhile, an increase in API readings of other stations was caused by cross-border haze in Borneo.
According to a report by the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) on Aug 9, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-satellite images have detected 93 hotspots in Kaimantan, four in Sumatra (Indonesia) and three in Sarawak (one in Mukah and two in Sibu).
“The northwest wind direction has brought haze-infected air from the affected areas of West Kalimantan to the western part of Sarawak thus, increasing the API readings in those areas,” the statement explained.
Although the API readings are high, they do not require action as enshrined in the National Haze Action Plan due to the temporary conditions and air quality will be monitored within the next 24 hours.
