By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, Sept 21: The Department of Environment (DOE) will temporarily move the air quality monitoring station from SK Kuala Baram in Miri to Serian district police station this week.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said several members of the public in Serian had requested for their own station due to the worsening haze in the area over the last few days, and they are disputing the Samarahan station’s reading as inaccurate.
“The public is concern that the monitoring station in Samarahan is unable to give them accurate readings of the air pollutant index (API) in Serian and Tebedu areas.
“I have requested that DOE look into this matter and they have agreed to temporarily move the removeable station from SK Kuala Baram. It will be done sometime this week,” he said told reporters before the cloud seeding operations at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) airbase, here, yesterday.
Uggah, who is also the State Disaster Management Committee chairman, assured the public that DOE’s monitoring station in Samarahan is accurate.
“The station can measure API readings up to 50km radius, covering areas as far as Serian, Tebedu, Simunjan and Padawan,” the committee secretariat head Major Ismail Mahedin said.
Meanwhile, today is the second day of cloud seeding operations, with the assistance of RMAF’s Hercules C-130 aircraft.
The aircraft is scheduled to take off at noon once the salt solution are prepared. — DayakDaily
