Malaysia: Twenty-four areas record unhealthy API readings

The Star 14 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: A total of 24 areas nationwide recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as at 6am Monday.

The affected locations in the peninsula are in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, according to the Department of Environment's website.

Banting in Selangor recorded the highest API at 175, followed by Nilai (170), Putrajaya and Seremban (both 162) and Port Klang (161).

Other areas with unhealthy API readings in Peninsular Malaysia are Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur (154), Port Dickson (152), Cheras (148), Shah Alam (143) and Petaling Jaya (139).

In Sarawak, the areas with unhealthy API readings are Sri Aman (128), Samarahan (121), Sarikei (112) and Kuching (111).

Areas in Sabah, meanwhile, recorded moderate readings.

Air quality with API readings of 0-50 is categorised as good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 301 and above (hazardous).

Haze worsens but winds expected to ease situation today
PATRICK LEE The Star 14 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: The haze situation here took a turn for the worse with Klang, Shah Alam, Subang and Kuala Lumpur as the areas hard hit by the smog but Malaysians can expect a slight relief today.

A change in wind direction and speed is expected to ease the situation today.

The Meteorological Department said regional winds coming from north Sumatra could help to reduce haze in the peninsula.

“There will be a change in wind direction and speed starting tomorrow (today). This will probably help to ease the haze,” its spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip told The Star.

He said winds blowing the haze were now coming from south Sumatra with a separate flow today coming from north and central areas of the island.

Dr Hisham said this might last for two or three days.

Yesterday, Malacca’s Bukit Rambai had the worst Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 171 as at 3pm.

At least 17 areas in the peninsula, including Petaling Jaya, Port Klang, Shah Alam and Banting, expe­rienced unhealthy API readings of more than 100.

The only place that saw a healthy API was Kelantan’s Tanah Merah, with a reading of 38 as at 3pm.

Asked about the possibility of rain, he said there would be “more rain” for northern peninsula states, including Kelantan.

“As for other states, not much,” he added.

The department, he said, was on standby for cloud-seeding, adding that the atmosphere was not “favourable” for now as there were less clouds around.

Dr Hisham had previously expected the haze to last until Sept 20 when winds would blow the smoke back to Indonesia with more rain expected.

Meanwhile, the Natural Resour­ces and Environment Ministry said satellite images detected 53 hotspots in Sumatra and another 97 in Kalimantan. Two were found in Malaysia.

However, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the actual number was not known due to cloud cover.

He added that while more haze was expected to come over large parts of the country, this was expected to end with the inter-monsoon period from mid-September.

“During this season, the country will be wetter compared to now, especially in the west coast states in the peninsula and west Sabah, and a change in wind direction,” he said.

Dr Wan Junaidi said 3,270 open burning cases were detected from Jan 1 to Sept 12 this year.

To report an open burning case, the public can call the Fire Depart­ment at 999 or the Depart­ment of Environment at 1-800-88-2727.

Air quality worsens nationwide, 19 areas record unhealthy API
TAN YI LIANG The Star 13 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: A total of 19 areas nationwide recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as at 5pm Sunday.

The affected locations in the peninsula are in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Johor, according to the Department of Environment's website.

Bukit Rambai in Malacca recorded the highest API at 169, followed by Banting, Selangor (168), Malacca city (166), Nilai (161), Port Dickson (150), Putrajaya (156), Seremban (155), Port Klang (155) and Shah Alam (151).

Other areas with unhealthy API readings in peninsula Malaysia are Muar (147), Petaling Jaya (144), Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur (131), Cheras (129) and Pasir Gudang (105).

In Sarawak, the areas with unhealthy API readings are Samarahan (128), Sri Aman (110) and Sarikei (101).

The air quality has worsened slightly since Sunday morning, with 17 areas recording unhealthy API readings at 11am.

Air quality with API readings of 0-50 is categorised as good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 301 and above (hazardous).

Seventeen areas record unhealthy API readings
The Star 13 Sep 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: Seventeen areas in the peninsula and Sarawak recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 11am Sunday.

The affected locations in the peninsula are in Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Johor, according to the Department of Environment's website.

Bukit Rambai recorded the highest API at 166, followed by Bandaraya Melaka (164), Port Dickson (156), Nilai (150) and Banting (147).

Other areas with unhealthy API readings are Seremban (145), Muar (142), Port Klang (137), Putrajaya (136), Shah Alam (134), Petaling Jaya (130), Batu Muda (115), Cheras (112), Samarahan (110), Kuching (109), Pasir Gudang (107) and Sri Aman (103).

Earlier at 8am, 18 areas recorded unhealthy API readings, with Bukit Rambai the highest at 160.

Kuala Selangor, which earlier recorded a reading of 101, moved out of the unhealthy zone, posting a reading of 98.

The other areas with unhealthy API readings as at 8am were Seremban (139), Muar (136), Port Klang (136), Putrajaya (132), Shah Alam (130), Petaling Jaya (127), Batu Muda (115), Cheras (110), Samarahan (109), Kuching (105), Pasir Gudang (105), Sri Aman (103) and Kuala Selangor (101).

Air quality with API readings of 0-50 is categorised as good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 301 and above (hazardous).