IAN YEEANDVIVIENNE WONG The Star 23 Oct 15;
LANGKAWI: Close to 3,000 people, mostly tourists, were stranded here as the haze grounded almost all flights to and from Langkawi International Airport for the past two days.
Yesterday morning, passengers of certain airlines were told the next available flights would be late this afternoon, and even then, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t be cancelled.
“We cannot give any estimates because we can’t predict the haze.
“We can only wait until visibility levels are safe, inform the airlines, and let them decide whether it’s safe to fly,” said airport manager Jefry Ramli.
Sandra Chu and Jimmy Cheung, both 49, from Hong Kong, spent two days waiting for replacement flights at the airport, and their rescheduled flight to Kuala Lumpur yesterday was also cancelled.
They spent over HK$10,000 (RM5,700) on their trip to Pulau Langkawi, and have now been forced to forego most of the hotel stays and tour packages they’ve paid for in KL.
“It’s a total loss,” said Cheung of the KL leg of his holiday. “I never experienced anything like this. I don’t think I’ll ever come back here.”
Frenchman Aoune Sane, 33, and his friends had to cancel their flights to KL and Phuket, worth a total of €300 (RM1,452), due to the delays.
They finally decided to travel to Phuket by sea – a five-hour journey – in order to catch their flight back to Paris from Thailand.
Others desperate to get to the mainland had to take the ferry from Kuah Jetty to Kuala Perlis or Penang, and book land transport from there.
Airport and airline staff were doing their best to cope with the chaos caused by the haze.
“Only a few have shouted at us, but that’s to be expected,” said AirAsia guest service assistant Mohd Azhar Saidan, who was in good spirits despite working 12-hour shifts for the past three days.
Jefry said the airport was also doing its best to help passengers.
Fishermen Worried As Income Affected By Haze
Bernama 22 Oct 15;
GEORGE TOWN, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The haze inundating the state is affecting the income of fishermen, especially those operating in coastal waters, since low visibility is preventing them from going out to sea.
Penang Fisheries Department director Abdullah Md Din said those badly affected are fishermen in Zone A (fishing within 0-5 nautical miles) because their boats lacked radar equipment.
"They are worried about colliding with other fishing boats if they go to sea due to the low visibility. This is affecting their income," he told reporters after a Fisheries Volunteer Accreditation Ceremony here, Thursday.
In this regard, he said the department was collecting all the information related to the problems of fishermen to be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry for further action.
To date, he said the supply of fish in Penang was adequate but prices had gone up as fishermen are affected by the haze.
Meanwhile, several fishermen met at the ceremony expressed concern as their income had dropped by 50 per cent due to the haze.
Khor Thiam Hoo, 54, said he still went out to sea despite the haze as it was his only source of income.
"I have no alternative because I have to pay my crew. The catch has dropped more than 30 per cent but we still have to get on with it as it is my livelihood," he said.
Thor Kean Wah, 40, said he had not gone to sea for a week because the visibility was so limited and his boat did not have GPS equipment.
"I dare not go out to sea as I fear my net may disappear if I put them out and I may not be able to find my way back to base in Kuala Jalan Baharu, Balik Pulau here as the visibility is so limited," he said.
A fisherman in Sungai Pinang, here, Mohamed Rafee M. Sheriff, 51, said he had only gone to sea eight days in the whole of this month and was a very worried man as his income had dropped drastically.
"A myriad of problems crop up due to the haze because it does not only involve visibility but also our health. So, I hope the authorities concerned will tackle the problem for the continuous survival of coastal fishermen like us," he added.
-- BERNAMA
All schools to reopen Friday except for northern states
D. KANYAKUMARI The Star 22 Oct 15;
PETALING JAYA: All schools will reopen on Friday (Oct 23) except for those in the northern region, according to the Education Ministry.
It said in a statement that the Air Pollutant Index (API) has worsened in Perlis, Perak, Kedah and Penang.
As such, the schools in those states will remain close.
The Ministry, however, said that the directive does not apply to Kedah as Friday is an off day for the state.
"The closure involves a total of 1,600 schools and 728,739 students. Therefore we ask all district education offices and the state education departments to inform the students and their parents over the closure,” it said.
The schools that will reopen on Friday are in Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Bentong in Pahang as well as Kuching, Sri Aman, Samarahan and Betong in Sarawak.
"We advise the schools to take the necessary precautionary measures to remind their students to take care of their health and wear face masks while in schools," said the statement.
The Ministry also reiterated that the school closure was to ensure that the haze does not affect the health of the students in the country.
"The order is applicable to both government and private schools. In any case where private schools wish to remain open, we would remind them to abide by the guidelines of the ministry," it added.
Haze: Schools closure in Northern states tomorrow
ZAFIRA ANWAR New Straits Times 22 Oct 15;
KUALA LUMPUR: The haze situation in the country continues to blanket at least 6 areas with very unhealthy level reading as of 5pm.
The latest Air Pollutant Index (API) reading published by Department of Environment show Bakar Arang in Sungai Petani recording the highest reading of 249, followed by Seberang Jaya 2, Perai at 239.
Other areas with very unhealthy API are Alor Star (237), Langkawi (235), Kangar (224) and areas near Universiti Sains Malaysia (210).
In view with the worsening haze situation in the northern states, the Education Ministry in a statement today, ordered schools in Penang, Perlis and Perak to be closed tomorrow. For Kedah, the ministry said, schools will be closed as its a weekend holiday. Kedah practises a weekend holiday on Friday and Saturday.
The ministry added schools closed today in N. Sembilan, Selangor, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Bentong in Pahang; Kuching, Sri Aman, Samarahan and Betong in Sarawak to reopen tomorrow:
Meanwhile, 22 areas recorded unhealthy readings with Perai (184), SK Jalan Pegoh, Ipoh (169), Seri Manjung (167), Kampung Air Putih, Taiping (152) Port Klang (154) Jalan Tasek, Ipoh (150), Kuala Selangor (148), Sri Aman (135), Shah Alam (131), Tanah Merah (123), Tanjung Malim (124), Tanah Merah (123) Samarahan (122), Kuching (119), SMK Tanjung Chat, Kota Baru (118), Balok Baru, Kuantan (114), Banting (109), Petaling Jaya (107), Kemaman (106)Putrajaya (105), Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (103), Tawau (101).
The worsening haze could affect one's health, as being exposed to it could lead to acute and chronic health diseases, which could result in death.
Environmental Health and Research fellow of the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Professor Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim was quoted saying that a study published international journal Nature claimed that outdoor air pollution contributed significantly to premature deaths around the globe.
“Health impacts of air pollution are a function of dose as well as duration of exposure to air pollutants.
“We know the dose or level of particulate pollutant has attained hazardous levels of more than 300 in API (Air Pollutant Index) some time ago,” he told the New Straits Times.
An API of between 0 to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), 301 and above (hazardous).
Autonomy should not be given to schools to decide on closures: NUTP
NAIM ZULKIFLI AND GLORIA HARRY BEATTY New Straits Times 22 Oct 15;
KUALA LUMPUR: School closures due to the haze have not affected student performance so far. However, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) cautions that autonomy should not be given to individual schools to decide whether to remain open or to close.
NUTP president Hashim Adnan said that despite the school closures, students have still managed to catch up with the entire school syllabus and obtain good results in examinations.
“As long as students are giving their full attention during class and doing their revisions at home, it’s likely that they would still be able to make up for lost school time despite the school closures,” he told the NST.
He added the ministry should not give autonomy to schools to determine whether to open or close because the decision may or may not be for the student’s best interest in terms of safety and health.
A headmistress from Negri Sembilan said although all schools have an e-learning program, not all students had Internet access at home.
“For now, the school board is taking the necessary measures such as making sure the students and the staff wear masks, closing all doors when not used and being vigilant for students who are unwell to ensure they received prompt medical attention,” she said.
Meanwhile, a teacher from a secondary school in Puchong said the school now uploaded material on-line for the students.
“We are doing our part to ensure that the students still can do their own home revision by uploading notes and exercises for the students on-line to make up for the loss of learning hours from the school closures,” she said.
She added that parents had been very supportive, though they were worried about the delay of school examinations and activities.
National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council president Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Ali Hasan encouraged parents to buy respiratory masks and air purifiers.
“It would be good if parents can provide financial aid and donate protective masks and safety equipment (to the schools),” he said.
Companies to comply with stop-work order
New Straits Times 22 Oct 15;
KUALA LUMPUR: Construction companies foresee problems but cannot quantify estimated losses if the government issues a stop-work order on all construction projects due to the worsening haze.
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) chief executive officer and managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon said: “There will be losses in every aspect when you consider a project’s daily operations, such as workers’ daily wages, equipment and machinery rental.
“We cannot give an estimation of the losses, as it depends on the duration of the delay.”
Asked whether they would comply, Soam said they would because they were concerned about the workers’ health and safety, owing to the deteriorating air quality.
“However, we hope that the government would come to a mutual agreement with our suppliers and buyers, such as time extension for works in progress, to avoid being penalised if we do receive official instructions to halt our operations.”
Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had said he was considering issuing a stop-work order on all construction projects here and in Putrajaya due to the worsening haze.
Alor Star and Langkawi airports reopened
ILI New Straits Times 22 Oct 15;
ALOR STAR: The runways in Sultan Abdul Halim Airport and Langkawi International Airport which were closed at 7am and 7.30am respectively this morning has been reopened and operations are running as usual.
The airport runways were closed due to low visibility caused by haze.
The Langkawi airport runway was reopened at 10am, with a visibility of 800m, while the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport runway was reopened at 11am, with a visibility of 900m.
Malaysia Airports, in its official twitter feed, advised all passengers travelling today to check with their respective airlines on their flight schedules.
Data showed that the latest air quality in Langkawi remained very unhealthy as of 9am where the pollutant index (API) reading has reached 242.
The same goes with other parts of Kedah and Perlis with Bakar Arang, Sungai Petani recording a reading of 252, Alor Star (236) and Kangar, Perlis (247).
