Haze in Malaysia and Indonesia

Muar’s air quality better
The Star 22 Oct 10;

PUTRAJAYA: Muar residents breathed easier with the drastic improvement in air quality there, but precautionary measures are still kept in place to weather any sudden change in conditions.

All 204 schools, including 170 primary schools, will re-open today following the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading falling to only 77 yesterday morning.

The reading at 11am was a huge drop from the previous day’s 432 obtained at the same time.

Natural Resources and Environ-ment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said there was concern when the API reading reached 437 on Wednesday, but the readings started to steadily reduce during the night, registering a reading of 101 at 5am yesterday and 90 at 7am.

“There has also been a drastic reduction in the number of hotspots in Indonesia,” he told reporters after launching the National Level Environment Week yesterday.

The satellite report released by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre stated that the number of hotspots in Indonesia on Wednesday reduced to 61 from 202 the previous day, although there was still a visible movement of smoke plumes from Riau, Southern Sumatera and Jambi.

Douglas Uggah said steps to be taken if the air quality started to deteriorate again, had already been listed out to the agencies concerned and the plan for action was ready.

He said Malaysia too had taken action to overcome problems with peat fires by building check dams, tube wells and lookout towers. These had helped to control the situation especially in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Separately, Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said the government had no intention to issue a note of protest to Indonesia over the haze.

“We hope Indonesia will take immediate action before the haze gets worse,” he said adding that Malaysia was prepared to work together with the neighbouring country to solve the issue.

In Muar, the district office distributed 10,000 face masks to schools.

District officer Mislan Karmani said bottled mineral water would also be distributed to the schools.

A 24-hour hotline 06-9521021 has been set up for those wanting the latest information on the haze situation.

Checks done by The Star at pharmacies in Johor Baru revealed that many people were buying masks for protection.

Flights in Batam not affected by haze yet
Antara 22 Oct 10;

Batam, Riau Islands Province (ANTARA News) - Airline flights at Batam`s Hang Nadim Airport have so far not been affected by haze from Sumatra forest fires, an airport official said.

"All flights are being conducted normally. They have not been affected by the haze yet," Tevi Amir, head of Hang Ngadim airport`s Air Traffic Control, said here Thursday.

The thick haze had reduced visibility for pilots but not yet to an extent that it was disturbing flights because the haze still allowed a minimum degree of visibility, he said.

Visibility on Thursday remained at five kilometers, while the minimum visibility for flights was at two kilometers, he said.

The haze had been blanketing the sky above Hang Nadim Airport since a few days ago.

The head of the information center of the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Hang Nadim airport, Agus Salim, said the haze came from burning Sumatran forests.

The Batam BMKG had detected 42 hot spots in Jambi, 36 in Riau, 13 in West Sumatra, 16 in North Sumatra, 66 in South Sumatra, two in Bangka Belitung, and two in Lampung.

The haze might have come from local land, forest and field burning in Batam, Rempang and Galang islands, in addition to Sumatran forests, he said.

"I am worried the haze will affect people`s health," a resident of Tiban village, Sumairoh, said.

Sumairoh urged the local administrations and the government to overcome the problem to prevent further loss and disadvantages especially for the health of the affected people. (*)