SERIAN, Sept 9: The State Disaster Management Committee might carry out cloud seeding the earliest on Sept 12 to combat haze in the state.
The committee chairman Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said whether cloud seeding will be carried out depended on the accuracy of the forecast.
“We are also looking at the timing for cloud seeding. The timing depends solely on whether there are cloud covers around the affected areas mainly Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman.
“And looking at the air direction and the weather forecast, we anticipated the earliest (cloud seeding) can be done is on Sept 12.
“So we standing by to do it on the 12th (Sept). Again it depends on the availability of the clouds in affected areas,” he told reporters after the state level Agong’s Birthday Tea Party Celebration at SJK Chung Hua Serian Multipurpose Hall here this afternoon.
As of 1pm today, the air pollution index (API) readings for Sri Aman, Samarahan and Kuching were at very unhealthy level of 246, 201 and 249 respectively.
Meanwhile, Uggah also informed that the 500,000 masks from Putrajaya to Kuching, to be distributed to school students, are expected to arrive this afternoon.
He appealed to Putrajaya and the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change to push for a discussion with Indonesia in finding holistic ways and means to reduce hotspots in Kalimantan, the main contributor of haze in Sarawak.
“Few days ago, there were 1,041 hotspots detected in Kalimantan. Today was reduced to 641. But according to the projection of the forecast, the hot weather may continue for the rest of the week.
“So I would like to advise the public to take care of themselves because haze can be very dangerous to health,” said Uggah. — DayakDaily
