Forest Fires Cause Haze Over Riau Province

Bernama 11 May 11;

DUMAI (RIAU), May 11 (Bernama) -- Forest and plantation fires have ravaged Sumatra's Riau province, and the smoke have caused haze covering the district over the last three days, Indonesia's Antara nwes agency reports Wednesday.

The haze significantly reduced the air quality in the region and the pollutant standard index (PSI) to 100, Surya Arfan, head of the Rokan Hilir environmental impact control agency said.

"At the number, the air quality is categorized as healthy but only in certain hours like midnight until early morning," he said, adding that several local residents are suffering from respiratory problem due to the haze.

"We will see in the next few days, if the condition gets worse, we will distribute face masks especially to elementary students who are joining the national exam at present," he said.

He estimated that the number of hot spots in Rokan Hilir reached tens of them.

"Our field monitor officers have seen hot spots in idle land areas in Kubu, Bangko, and Bagansiapi-api sub districts. However, we don`t know exactly how large the areas which have been burned," he said.

Marzuki, analyst of the Riau meteorological, climatology and geophysics office, said there are around 110 hot spots in Riau Province.

Based on the monitoring by NOAA Satellite 18, 36 hot spots were found in Rokan Hilir, 13 in Bengkalis, and five in Dumai city.

-- BERNAMA

Malaysia: Air quality in five towns nears unhealthy level
Lee Yen Mun The Star 11 May 11;

PETALING JAYA: The air quality in five towns in three states dropped close to unhealthy levels Wednesday.

The Department of Environment reported higher-than-normal Air Pollutant Index (API) readings for Port Klang (97), Nilai (92), Banting (82), Bukit Rambai in Malacca (87) and Muar (84).

An area's air quality reaches an unhealthy level when its API hits 101, a very unhealthy level at 201 and hazardous when it exceeds 301.

The air quality of an area is considered good if its API reading is between 0 to 50.

Director of air quality unit Kalsom Abdul Ghani attributed the decrease in visibility in various parts of the country to southwesterly winds blowing haze from open burnings in Sumatra hotspots.

"It occurred under transboundary conditions due to the wind, which normally takes this direction at this time of the year,” Kalsom said.

Forest fires cause haze over Rokan Hilir
Antara 10 May 11;

Dumai, Riau (ANTARA News) - Forest and plantation fires in Rokan Hilir District, Riau province, have produced haze covering the district over the last three days.

The haze significantly reduced the air quality in the region and the pollutant standard index (PSI) to 100, Surya Arfan, head of the Rokan Hilir environmental impact control agency, said here Tuesday.

"At the number, the air quality is categorized as healthy but only in certain hours like midnight until early morning," he said.

A number of local residents suffer from respiratory problem due to the haze, he said.

"We will see in the next few days, if the condition gets worse, we will distribute face masks especially to elementary students who are joining the natational exam at present," he said.

He estimated that the number of hot spots in Rokan Hilir reached tens of them.

"Our field monitor officers have seen hot spots in idle land areas in Kubu, Bangko, and Bagansiapi-api sub districts. However, we don`t know exactly how large the areas which have been burned," he said.

Marzuki, analyst of the Riau meteorological, climatology and geophysics office, said there are around 110 hot spots in Riau Province.

Based on the monitoring by NOAA Satellite 18, 36 hot spots were found in Rokan Hilir, 13 in Bengkalis, and five in Dumai city.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Thunderstorms coming to the rescue
New Straits Times 11 May 11;

KUALA LUMPUR: People suffering from the sweltering heat can look forward to some relief in the next few days.

"There will be changes in the weather as tropical storm Aere is moving north," said Malaysian Meteorological Department forecasting director Saw Bun Liong yesterday.

With the weakening influence of Aere, there should be afternoon thunderstorms or morning squalls.

Saw said the southwest monsoon season from May to September normally saw the country experiencing less rain, leading to hot and dry weather.

The mean rainfall recorded in May and June was between 100mm and 150mm, he added.

As of 5pm yesterday, the Department of Environment website showed the Air Pollutant Index (API) ratings of 52 sites monitored nationwide as good and 27 sites as moderate. Only one site was rated as unhealthy. No readings were shown for Petaling Jaya, Selangor and Jalan Tasek, Ipoh.

(API readings of 0-50 are categorised as good; 51-100, moderate; 101-200, unhealthy; 201-300, very unhealthy; and over 301, hazardous.)

The four areas with the highest API readings were Tanjung Malim, Perak, at 109, followed by Port Klang at 97, Nilai, Negri Sembilan, at 86 and Muar, Johor, at 80.

Bukit Rambai in Malacca was at 79 while Shah Alam and Banting in Selangor recorded API readings of 78.

Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang recorded the lowest reading at 29.

Air quality drops by 17%
Isabelle Lai The Star 11 May 11;

PETALING JAYA: With the hot and hazy weather conditions, the air quality in Malaysia plummeted by 17% within a day with good air quality down to 44% yesterday from 61% on Monday.

The Department of Environment recorded 23 areas with good air quality and 29 areas with moderate air quality. Data for Monday showed 31 areas with good air quality and 20 with moderate air quality.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, recorded 19 areas affected by haze including Malacca, Kuantan, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Sepang, Ipoh and Petaling Jaya.

In a statement yesterday, it said the current dry period was due to the tropical storm Aere over north-east of the Philippines and low-pressure area over the Andaman Sea.

“This resulted in the moisture of our region being drawn to these two areas,” said the statement.

The department said the highest maximum temperature observed at its stations throughout the country since May 6 was 36.2C.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David Quek said frequent intake of water was critical in this weather.

“Dehydration is a real possibility. It can cause heat stroke, giddines and breathing difficulty among others,” he cautioned.

He urged the public to reduce exercising in the open as it could lead to heat stroke as well.

“The key is to rehydrate. But don't drink soft drinks. Water is the best,” he said, adding that people should avoid being outdoors if possible.

Dr Quek also advised those already ill to stay away from public areas until they are fully recovered.

DOE: Drop in visibility an annual affair
The Star 12 May 11;

PETALING JAYA: The drop in visibility in various parts of the country is a phenomenon which occurs yearly around this time, says the Department of Environment’s air quality unit director Kalsom Abdul Ghani.

She attributed the haze that blanketed the Klang Valley yesterday to the southwesterly wind, which blew smoke from open burning in Sumatra’s hotspots.

“It occurs under transboundary conditions due to the wind at this time of the year,” Kalsom said.

The number of hotspots in Sumatra, particularly at central Riau, had jumped significantly in three days.

Satellite images captured 60 hotspots in the Indonesian province on Sunday, which increased to 136 and 156 respectively over the next two days.

Hotspots in peninsular Malaysia also jumped from one to five on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, air quality in five towns in four states dropped close to unhealthy levels yesterday.

The department reported that the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading for Port Klang was 97 at 11am, just three points short of falling into the unhealthy zone.

The other towns were Nilai (92) in Negri Sembilan and Banting (82) in Selangor, Bukit Rambai (87) in Malacca and Muar (84) in Johor.

The air quality is unhealthy when the API hits 101, very unhealthy at 201 and hazardous when it exceeds 301.

The air quality of an area is considered good if its API reading is between 0 and 50, as was the case in Alor Setar, Sungai Petani, Kota Baru, Taiping, Ipoh, Tanjung Malim, Kangar, Prai and Kota Kinabalu.

Langkawi had the best air quality with an API reading of 31.

Most areas in Sarawak also enjoyed good air quality except for Samarahan, which recorded moderate air quality at 53.