Situation could last for three months; Singapore air quality good for now
Zubaidah Nazeer, Indonesia Correspondent & Carolyn Hong Straits Times 12 May 11;
THE haze is back, with parts of Malaysia and Indonesia blanketed in choking smoke; Singapore could be affected soon too. And the haze could be around for the next three months.
A combination of large numbers of land-clearing fires and scorching weather, which sparks brush fires, has seen the number of hot spots in Sumatra go up in recent weeks.
From 60 hot spots detected on Sunday, the number rose to 136 on Monday and 156 on Tuesday before dropping to 119 on Wednesday and 45 yesterday because of sporadic rainfall. The situation this time last year was better because of wet weather hitting the region.
The effects of the heat and haze are being felt acutely in the Klang Valley, including Kuala Lumpur, driving many Malaysians as well as tourists indoors.
Ms Emma George Francis, 22, a Swede who has spent five days in Kuala Lumpur, said the air was smokier yesterday compared to earlier this week. 'My throat feels dry in this haze,' said Ms Francis. 'I've been drinking lots of water, and shopping mostly in the malls.'
Port Klang, about 40km south-west of Kuala Lumpur, hit an 'unhealthy' level of 104 on the pollution index yesterday morning before falling back into the 'moderate' range of 99 at 5pm after a late afternoon downpour. The readings of five surrounding areas at 5pm were above 80, the high side of moderate.
There will be some reprieve as more rain can be expected next week, according to a Meteorological Services Department officer.
Thick haze began to envelope parts of Sumatra late last month, causing breathing difficulties and forcing people to cut back on outdoor activities.
A meteorologist in Sumatra's Riau province, Mr Ardi Tama, said yesterday the haze could be around until August.
Of the 156 hot spots detected on Tuesday, almost half - or 77 - were in Riau. The province has also seen some of the highest temperatures this year.
Said Mr Ardi: 'We have seen temperatures peak at 36.5 deg C in Riau, the highest on record. It has since gone down to 34 deg C, which is still above the normal 32 deg C for this period.'
Contacted yesterday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said air quality in Singapore remained in the 'good' range, although 'some slight haziness may be expected... under light wind conditions'.
Late morning or early afternoon showers could help dispel the haziness, NEA said, adding it is monitoring the situation in the region closely.
But there are signs that the winds could carry the thick smoke to Singapore.
'The winds are blowing in a north-easterly direction towards Singapore and Malaysia,' said Mr Ardi. Riau is one of the Indonesian provinces closest to Singapore.
For now, the worst-hit areas remain those in Sumatra. On April 27, it prevented a SilkAir flight from landing in Pekanbaru, local reports said. Last Saturday, a Garuda plane was diverted from Jambi to Palembang also because of poor visibility caused by the haze. There have been no reports of airport closures as yet.
In the sub-district of Rokan Hilir, Mr Surya Arfan, the head of an environmental impact control agency there, told Antara news agency that his officials had found several pieces of idle land burning.
'In the next few days, if the condition gets worse, we will distribute face masks especially to elementary students who are taking the national exam at present.'
The haze season usually occurs each year from June to September, which is the dry season in Indonesia and also a time when farmers clear their land using the slash-and-burn method.
The worst haze to hit the region took place in 1997. In 2006, it was so bad that Malaysia was forced to close Port Klang and declare a state of emergency in Klang and Kuala Selangor.
Asean's efforts to tackle the annual haze problem saw nine of its members ink the 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Only Indonesia has yet to ratify the accord.
Hot, dry spells for next few weeks
New Straits Times 13 May 11
KUALA LUMPUR: Yesterday’s showers in some parts of the country do not indicate the dry spell is over, said the Meteorological Department.
Weather forecast director Saw Bun Liong said temporary showers were usually expected throughout the country for a day or two after a dry spell with temperatures of 34ºC-35ºC.
“For the next few weeks, the weather is expected to be hot and dry followed by a day or two of rain,” he said yesterday.
Social networking site Twitter was filled yesterday with locals rejoicing as soon as they heard thunder and a downpour. Some of them twittered: “It’s raining. It’s a miracle.”
The dry spell started about 1½ weeks ago which caused temperatures to hit 36ºC.
With no rain, the Kuala Lumpur skyline was enveloped in haze two days ago with unhealthy air quality readings.
Yesterday, Port Klang showed unhealthy air quality levels with an Air Pollutant Index reading (API) of 104. Other parts of the country, which almost breached the unhealthy level of 101 were Banting (96), Shah Alam (86), Kuala Selangor (85), Nilai (88) and Bukit Rambai in Malacca (85).
Two days ago, Tanjung Malim reported unhealthy air levels but had recovered from 109 to 64 while Universiti Sains Malaysia recorded its lowest API reading of 25 for two days straight.
Healthy API readings are 50 and below, moderate are 51 to 100 while unhealthy levels are 101 to 200. Readings above 301 are hazardous.
The first haze emergency was declared in August 2005 with a week long-choking-like haze caused by open burning in Sumatra and Malaysia after air pollution in Port Klang and Kuala Selangor areas hit dangerous levels of 500 API.
Hazy Days Due To Cross-Border Haze From Sumatra
Bernama 12 May 11;
KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- The hazy air over several parts of the country, especially in the Klang Valley, Selangor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Johor is due to cross-border pollution by haze particles coming from Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Department of Environment (DOE) in a statement Thursday said the NOAA-18 satellite images Wednesday showed the wind blowing from south-west, which were the hot spot areas in the Riau, South Sumatra and Jambi provinces, to the west coast and southern part of Peninsular Malaysia.
The satellite report issued by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre showed reduced number of hot spots in Sumatra Thursday to 45 from 119 detected Wednesday.
No hot spots were detected in Malaysia Thursday compared to three Wednesday.
The statement said that DOE had activated the Standing Operating Procedure for the Prevention of Peat Soil Fire programme starting May 10.
"The public is advised not to carry out open burning and to cooperate by putting out small open fires, and to report on open burning to the Fire and Rescue Department by calling 999 and DOE at toll-free 1-800-88-2727," it said.
Meanwhile, the Air Pollutant Index (API) nationwide recorded a slight improvement as at 5pm Thursday, with no area listed as unhealthy compared to one area as at 11am.
Thirty-one areas recorded moderate levels with API at 51 to 100, while 21 areas were reported as Good (API 0-50), the DOE website reported.
Among the areas with the highest API at the moderate level as at 5 pm were Port Klang (99), Bukit Rambai (96), Melaka city (88) and Port Dickson (85).
-- BERNAMA
Air around Port Klang unhealthy
The Star 12 May 11;
PETALING JAYA: The air quality in Port Klang reached the unhealthy level Thursday morning, topping 102 on the Air Pollutant Index (API) released by the Department of Environment (DOE).
Other areas showing high API were Banting (96), Nilai, Negri Sembilan (89) Shah Alam (84) and Bukit Rambai, Malacca at 82.
An API level exceeding 100 is considered unhealthy.
The haze blanketing much of the Klang Valley and many areas in the west coast has been attributed to open burning in Sumatra.
The DOE has blamed the condition on the southwesterly winds blowing smoke from open burning in Sumatera's hotspots.
The number of hotspots in Sumatra, particularly at central Riau, has jumped significantly in the last four three days.
Pekanbaru haze causes delay in two flights
Antara 13 May 11;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Two commercial flights were delayed at Sultan Syarif Kasim (SSK) II Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, Friday, due to haze coming from forest and peat fires.
"Two flights were delayed this morning, respectively from Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia," Taslim, the head of the SSK II airport, said here Friday.
The visibility dropped drastically in the morning, while the minimal visibility for air safety was 1,000 meters, he said.
The two flights scheduled to fly to Jakarta were delayed for a half hour due to the haze, he said.
According to the Pekanbaru meteorological, climatology and geophysics agency, the visibility drooped to only 150 meters in the morning at around 6.30 am local time.
Based on the NOAA 18 Satellite, there were nine hotspots in Riau on Friday morning, consisting of three in Rokan Hilir, four in Rokan Hulu, one in Siak , and another in Kampar districts.
Two days ago, Riau had 46 hotspots of forest, peat and plantation fires.
Meanwhile, Merpati Airways` MA 60 flight serving Medan-Dumai route was delayed for five hours due to haze hanging over Pinang Kampai airport, in Dumai, on Friday morning.
The visibility at the airport was only 1,500 meters, forcing Merpati to delay its flight from Medan to Dumai for five hours, Irvan, head of the Pinang Kampai airport, Dumai, Riau Province, said Dumai, Friday.
The delay was at the initiative of the plane`s pilot to prevent such a plane incident in Kaimana waters, West Papua recently.
"We at the Pinang Kampai airport this morning confirmed that the weather in Dumai was bad. After receiving the weather report, we informed Merpati. They later decided to postpone the flight schedule from Medan," he said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli
