By DayakDaily Team
SERIAN, Sept 4: All construction works under the Public Works Department (JKR) Sarawak being carried out in Serian Division have been ordered to stop immediately for the duration of the state of emergency declared over hazardous haze conditions.
In an advisory issued following the declaration today, JKR Sarawak said the directive applied to all JKR projects in areas affected by the emergency and would remain in force throughout the period of the declaration.
The department said the measure was taken as a safety precaution to protect the health and well-being of workers and other personnel at construction sites amid the worsening air quality.
JKR Sarawak also called on all contractors, consultants and other parties involved in its projects to comply with the directive.
“Safety will always remain the priority,” the department said in the advisory.
The directive follows the declaration of a state of emergency throughout Serian Division after worsening haze caused air pollution levels to reach a point deemed hazardous to public health and safety.
The Prime Minister’s Office said His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, had consented to the declaration following the deterioration in air quality in the division.
The Serian air quality monitoring station recorded an Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 495 at 7am today, before the reading exceeded 500 at 8am and subsequently climbed to 521 at 2pm.
An API reading exceeding 500 places the area in the highest alert category, Level 5A (Very Dangerous), under the National Haze Action Plan (NHAP).
Under the emergency measures, government and private offices and other workplaces in the affected area, including industries, plantations, construction sites and quarries, are required to close, while essential services will continue to operate.
The measures are confined to Serian Division and do not extend to other divisions in Sarawak.
Authorities have also stressed that the state of emergency is not a lockdown akin to the Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The emergency measures are aimed at protecting public health by encouraging people to remain indoors and minimising exposure to the hazardous air conditions. — DayakDaily
