KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 – Malaysia’s haze woes seem to be here to stay, according to official data.
As per readings from Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia, stations located in three areas in Sarawak, namely Kuching, Sri Aman and Samarahan have recorded very unhealthy numbers.
Kuching’s air quality is the worst in Malaysia at 248 as of 10am today, hitting higher than 227 recorded at 10am on September 8.
Sri Aman’s air quality was listed at 246 at 10am today, visibly higher than 232 recorded a day ago.
As for Samarahan, as of 10am today, its air quality was recorded at 202, slightly lower than 204 recorded at 10am of September 8.
Eight regions in both east and west Malaysia have also been categoriSed under unhealthy, namely Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (102); Cheras, Selangor (101); Johan Setia, Selangor (142); Nilai, Negeri Sembilan (107); Sarikei, Sarawak (192); Sibu, Sarawak (158); Mukah, Sarawak (113)’ and ILP Miri, Sarawak (133).
Fifty-seven stations were classified as moderate, whereas no stations were categorized under good reading.
Explaining that the smoke haze from hotspots in West Kalimantan continued to affect western Sarawak and was extending over the adjacent South China Sea area driven by the prevailing winds, Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre said in a statement: “With dry weather expected over many parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, the hotspot and haze situation there can be expected to continue, and may lead to hazy conditions persisting over some parts of western Peninsular Malaysia and western Sarawak.”
