R. Sittamparam and Masami Mustaza
New Straits Times 15 Jul 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Environment is teaming up with local authorities to reduce the haze by curbing local sources, including open burning and smoke emissions from industrial areas.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said yesterday they hoped to work towards improving the haze situation by managing land with peat soil, especially the three million hectares in Selangor, Pahang, Johor and Sarawak.
"These areas are potential hotspots for fires.
"Peat soil is highly combustible when dry, so we need to raise the water levels as the soil is a fire hazard that can burn almost indefinitely or until its fuel is exhausted.
"Once ignited, the fire can reach about 10m into the ground and it will be hard to put out the flames.
"Sometimes, it can burn for months," he said after opening the ministry's sports meet here yesterday.
Uggah said the haze situation yesterday morning had improved and none of the DOE's 50 air-quality monitoring stations showed unhealthy readings.
"We are monitoring the land with peat soil, especially the fire-prone areas of Tanjung 12 and Johan Setia in Klang, Selangor, and in Pahang and Sarawak.
"We have set up three manned observation towers for early detection of hotspots and 19 tube wells to raise water levels, as well as 100 check dams to prevent the draining of water at these peat soil areas."
Uggah said his ministry's standard operating procedure to beat the haze was well in place and it would resort to cloud seeding as an emergency measure should the dry spell and haze persist.
He said the trans-boundary Asean Ministerial Steering Committee on haze, which will meet on Aug 18 and 19 in Thailand, had taken many positive steps in addressing the haze problem across borders.
"We've been talking about setting up a rapid fire fighting team to move speedily within Asean countries without the hindrance of bureaucracy and border issues."
Nationwide air quality improving
The Star 16 Jul 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: The air quality is reported to be improving throughout the country, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) showing better readings on Saturday compared to Friday.
According to the Environment Department's website, 69 percent of API readings were at good levels this morning while the rest were moderate.
At 5pm on Friday, 48 per cent of API readings were good, 48 percent moderate and four percent unhealthy.
Several areas in Perak recorded moderate air quality including in Seri Manjung (71), Kampung Air Putih, Taiping (69), Jalan Tasek Ipoh (67) and S.K. Jalan Pagoh (66).
Several areas which recorded unhealty air quality on Saturday evening such as Cheras (110) and Seri Manjung (104), returned to good and moderate levels with readings of 36 and 71 respectively.
API readings of between 0-50 are categorised as good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 300 (hazardous). - Bernama
