KUCHING, Sept 8: The three districts of Sri Aman, Samarahan and Kuching are still hard hit by haze as shown by their air pollution index (API) of 236, 202 and 225 as of 11 am this morning.
Haze situation in districts in central region is also worsening with Sibu registering an API of 181 while Sarikei, 174 and Mukah 109.
In northern region, Miri and Baram which has been suffering from haze attack more than 3 weeks now, continue to experience unhealthy air quality with API of 155 for Miri and Baram, 115.
The poor air quality in Sarawak has been attributed to severe forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan and the change of wind direction which carries the transboundary smog to Sarawak.
According to the statement of State Fire and Rescue Department, local forest, peatland and bush fires as well as irresponsible open burnings by unscrupulous farmers, individuals and companies who defied warnings by authorities are also factors contributing to making the situation worse.
Malaysia’s API has five categories of air quality. Hazardous levels are readings above 300 while 201-300 is considered very unhealthy; 101-200 is unhealthy; 51-100 is moderate and everything below 50 is good. — DayakDaily
