Malaysia: Haze clearing up in most states

ALIZA SHAH AND PHUAH KEN LIN New Straits Times 6 Mar 14;

GOOD A.P.I. READINGS: DoE to tighten enforcement on open burning

KUALA LUMPUR: THE haze enveloping several states has improved with only Ipoh recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 104 as at 5pm yesterday.

Department of Environment (DoE) director-general Halimah Hassan said 24 areas recorded good API readings while another 25 were moderate. On the situation in Ipoh, she said the haze was caused by ozone particles due to the emission of nitrogen gas from vehicles and industries.

She added the ministry had tightened enforcement against open burning with 1,140 cases recorded as of March 4.

Fire and Rescue Department senior officer Yusri Basri said the number of peat fires nationwide dropped from 417 on Tuesday to 345 yesterday.

In George Town, bush fire broke out again on Penang Hill yesterday.

White smoke was visible from the hilltop in the Air Itam area.

Fire and Rescue Department operations chief Azrinnoor Ahmad said the emergency unit received a distress call about 7am.

He and his team members boarded the Penang Hill railway to inspect the hotspot but had to come down after failing to pinpoint the exact location.

Later, when the spot was located, firemen were forced to use an alternative route to reach the secluded spot from the Air Itam Dam.

Azrinnoor said a command post was set up to monitor the bush fire with 13 members sent in to put out the flames.

Several firemen boarded a helicopter to get an aerial view of the hot spot while another team trekked for an hour to reach the hotspot.

Azrinnoor said two teams of firemen took two different routes and managed to reach the spot from hill treks in Air Itam.

The bush fire was eventually brought under control.

In Kuantan, firefighters had to create a firebreak to stop wildfires from spreading towards the Gebeng Industrial Area, where dozens of factories are located.

Gebeng fire station chief Syed Ahmad Jamaluddin Mohamed said 32 firemen had been working round-the-clock since Tuesday to put out the fires.

A firebreak is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow down or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire.

Syed Ahmad said about 20 hectares of forest were affected since the fire started in the area about 9pm on Tuesday.

He said they also received assistance from the Indera Mahkota fire station, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), MTBE Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MTBE) and Kuantan Port Authority (KPC).

He said strong winds had caused the fire to spread towards the industrial area where some oil and gas companies were also located.

"Luckily, we do not have water shortage and can also use the four fire engines provided by the Indera Mahkota fire station, RMN, MTBE, and KPC," he said.

A Pahang Fire and Rescue Department operations centre spokesman said 19 forest fires were reported yesterday with the main ones in Penor and Gebeng here while the rest were in Pekan and Rompin.

He said although they managed to control the fire at the oil palm plantation in Penor early yesterday, the strong winds caused it to spread again and almost reached the LKPP oil palm plantation nearby.

"Our focus is to put out the fire and we have set up an operations centre at the scene," he said.

Peat fires and open burning causing haze
New Straits Times 5 Mar 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: Peat fires and open burning are the main causes of the haze blanketing the west coast of the peninsula for the past few days.

Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (operations and management) officer Yusri Basri said the department had been doing its best to put out the fires.

In Selangor alone, he said, 40 fires had been reported since Monday, with 234.4ha of land still on fire.

Firemen are still fighting peat fires in four areas, Bestarijaya, Elite Highway in Cyberjaya, Sungai Besar and Sungai Tengi.

Yusri said the number of peat fires and open burning had been on the rise in the past few days.

"The fires in most areas would probably stop if we get continuous rain, whether natural or through cloud seeding."

In Ipoh, state Environment Committee chairman Dr Muhamad Amin Zakaria said open burning, dust from earth works and vehicle movements had resulted in the haze and Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Seri Manjung to hit unhealthy levels on Monday.

However, the reading improved slightly yesterday morning.

Amin said the bad air quality in Taiping, which recorded an API reading of 100 on Monday, was caused by the dry spell, open burning and a faulty smoke control system at a factory.

The factory is about 700m from the Department of Environment (DoE) monitoring station.

In Alor Star, the state DoE advised against open burning, saying that those caught face a maximum compound of RM500,000 or jail term of up to five years.

Its director, Mohamad Sayuti Sepeai, said the department had issued seven compounds totalling RM20,300 for burning domestic waste in the open. Each offender was slapped with compounds of between RM100 and RM12,000.

"We will not compromise as such activity has contributed to the air pollution and worsening haze situation in the state," he said.

On Monday, the API reading in Sungai Petani hit 99, a point short of reaching the unhealthy level.

However, the air quality in the state improved slightly yesterday as the API readings went down and remained at moderate levels.

In Pekan, the authorities fear the prolonged dry spell could trigger more bush and peat fires in Pahang, which has the biggest peat swamps in the peninsula.

Compounding the matter is that most peat swamps had dried up, exposing them to natural fire which could spread to other areas and last for weeks.

Hundreds of Fire and Rescue Department personnel have been working around-the-clock to douse fires in the state, which had destroyed large tracts of forests, particularly at dried-up peat swamps.

Villagers in the vicinity have been forced to remain indoors as strong winds drove the smoke over their homes and reducing visibility in certain areas.

In Seremban, Negri Sembilan DoE has activated the Open Burning Preventive Action Plan to deal with the worsening haze.

State DoE director Charanpal Singh said the department was monitoring all landfills in the state to ensure no open burning was carried out.

He said the department didn't want a recurrence of last year's blaze in the 2.8ha Pajam solid waste disposal dump in Nilai.

Charanpal added that DoE officers were patrolling eight dumpsites in the state around the clock, with extra attention given to the Pajam and Lukut landfills in Port Dickson.

"We are also monitoring industrial areas as factories there could contribute to the air pollution and worsen the haze."

Forest fire rages on Bukit Bendera, visible from 5km distance
The Star 5 Mar 14;

GEORGE TOWN: A forested area on top of a hill next to Bukit Bendera here is ablaze and thick smoke can be seen from five kilometres away.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Azmi Tamat said the department was alerted about the fire at 8am Wednesday.

"A team rushed to the scene but faced difficulties because there is no path to the burning area. They found the site, guided by smoke emitted by the fire.

"The firemen were also forced to bring along water and are using backpack sprayers to combat the fire," he told Bernama.

He said so far, 20 firemen were fighting hard to put out the fire and the number was expected to increase in the evening.

"We have brought the fire under control, so far. A total two hectares of forest have been razed by the fire," he said.

Azmi said the department would seek the aid Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's Bombardier aircraft if the fire went out of control.

The fire did not endanger the public as it was far away from housing areas at Bukit Bendera, he added. - Bernama