Penang hit by haze from open burning in Sumatra

Straits Times 1 Aug 08;

GEORGETOWN - PENANG was overcome by haze yesterday, with three areas experiencing poor visibility of between 2km and 6km.

The haze is believed to have originated from open burning in Sumatra, Indonesia.

According to a spokesman for the Penang Meteorological Department, the situation was worsened by suspended materials in the atmosphere.

'We believe the haze is caused by open burning in Sumatra as satellite images have indicated 150 hot spots there,' he said. 'Due to the dry weather, the haze is expected to last for several days in the northern part of the peninsula.'

But the spokesman said the situation 'is not alarming'.

He explained: 'It will change for the better when there are strong winds and heavy downpours.'

As at 11am yesterday, the Air Pollutant Index (API) at Seberang Jaya, a town near Butterworth, was at 79, while visibility was 2km.

At Prai, Penang's main industrial area, the API was at 53, while visibility was 6km. Over at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, the index was at 53, with visibility at 5km.

The API for the unhealthy level is more than 100.

In June, Singapore Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim met his counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to discuss the haze issue.

It was the group's fifth meeting since the setting up of a task force in late 2006 to tackle the haze problem, which has hit the five countries almost annually since 1997.

Dr Yaacob unveiled two programmes that Singapore would run with Indonesia's Jambi province in north Sumatra.

One is to train farmers to rear fish for export instead of growing crops to turn them away from slash-and-burn cultivation; the other is aimed at keeping the water level in the area's peatlands up. This is because when the peatlands dry out, they catch fire easily.

Farmers and plantation owners in Indonesia's Sumatra and Borneo islands clear the land by slashing vegetation and burning it in the middle of the year, ahead of the planting season.

BERNAMA