patrick lee The Star 26 Mar 14;
PETALING JAYA: Haze from Sumatran fires will not reach peninsular Malaysia, with the Malaysian Meteorological Department owing it to winds blowing from the country’s northeast.
“The forest fires will not affect us in any way because the winds will blow towards Sumatra, and thus there’s no need for concern at the moment,” said National weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah.
He added that a change in wind patterns would only occur in mid-May, and that there was a “very remote possibility” that winds would blow haze towards Malaysia.
Muhammad Helmi said Malaysia would also experience rain as it moved towards an inter-monsoonal period expected to occur by the end of next month.
“There will be frequent rains, and it can be quite heavy over the west coast states.
“It will cause the haze – if any – to clear up and fires in our areas to be drastically reduced,” he said.
A report by the Jakarta Post on Monday said at least 416 fires were recorded in peatland and forest areas across Sumatra. Most of these were in Riau, totalling 294 hotspots.
The peninsula has also been experiencing instances of haze along its west coast, with some forest areas catching fire due to months-long dry weather.
Muhammad Helmi said that cloud seeding could not be carried out until this Friday as the weather was not suitable for it.
Previously, he told The Star that there might be a “temporary break” in seeding-conducive weather this week.
“Conditions won’t be favourable (until Friday), so chances of us seeing showers or rainclouds are not very high,” he said yesterday.
Water rationing in Selangor to remain until further notice
The Star 26 Mar 14;
KUALA LUMPUR: The water rationing in stage one and three in Selangor, and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will continue until March 31 or longer.
Syabas assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred, said there had been no increase of water flow in Sungai Selangor due to the hot weather and absence of rainfall for the past few days.
“However, Syabas is still waiting for further decision from the Selangor state government on the water rationing,” she said in a statement here yesterday.
She said the water rationing in all affected areas in stage one and three would be continued according to schedule.
She added that hopefully, consumers would take a serious view of the water situation in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
The rationing for stage one and three in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were implemented on Feb 27 and March 10.
The first stage of the water rationing plan was implemented following the closure of the Cheras Batu 11 and Bukit Tampoi water treatment plants due to the ammonia contamination in Sungai Langat involving several places in Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang.
She said Syabas was informed by the operator of the plant, Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, that the Cheras Batu 11 treatment plant which had begun operations since March 17, had stopped operations since 2pm on Monday.
“This follows the increase in ammonia level at the Cheras Batu 11 treatment plant since Monday due to reduced rainfall in the last four days.
“The ammonia reading was at 4.2 parts per million (ppm), which is above the level permitted by the Health Ministry,” Priscilla said.
Stage three of the water rationing plan had been carried out in Gombak, Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Klang and Shah Alam following the reduction of raw water released from the Sungai Selangor Dam and the Klang Gates Dam as was decided by the Selangor state government. — Bernama
