Malaysia: Cloud seeding around airports

The Star 1 Oct 15;

PUTRAJAYA: Cloud seeding will be carried out in areas where airports are badly affected by the haze to lessen flight delays, cancellation or redirection.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Department of Civil Aviation would be working with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to conduct cloud seeding near identified airports.

Among airports where activities had been affected due to the smog are Senai International Airport in Johor Baru, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang and several airports in Sarawak.

“We are working on cloud seeding because we don’t want further disruptions,” he told reporters after attending the Cabinet meeting.

Liow had also directed the DCA to submit a report on how the aviation sector was affected by the haze.

The report will be presented to the Cabinet at its next meeting.

“The report will show how the haze is affecting us. We are compiling this so that we can inform Indonesia, which is working with us to resolve the problem,” he said.

Liow said a circular had also been issued to port operators on safety concerns linked to the haze.

He noted that Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd had cautioned smaller vessels not to operate if the visibility dropped to one nautical mile.

Liow said that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who chaired the Cabinet meeting yesterday, had briefed them on the situation and that the Government would be working with Indonesia on this.

“Indonesia has given us its commitment to act against those responsible for open burning,” he added.

Dr Ahmad Zahid during a visit to Indonesia last month had said that an agreement had been reached between the two countries to have regional co-operation in tackling the haze.

Indonesia, on its part, had agreed to tighten enforcement of laws while Malaysia pledged to conduct monitoring to ensure that Malay­sian government-linked companies operating in Indonesia did not contribute to the problem.

Students return to school today
The Star 1 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: The unpredictable haze situation has led to the Education Ministry having to issue statements almost daily about school operations.

All schools are opened today including those in Johor that have been closed for the past two days.

The ministry’s statement yesterday came about following queries and false messages about the matter.

It also advised that state education departments and district education offices around the country to continue monitoring the air pollu­tant index readings (API).

They could take the necessary action if there were changes to the API readings. In view of “disputes” over Malaysia’s API readings, Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Hamim Samuri gave a briefing yesterday to explain that the measurement system here adheres to the standards set by the US Environ­mental Protection Agency.

“It is not true that the Government is lying.

“If you refer to experts, they will say our method meets international standards,” said Hamim.

He said Malaysia’s API readings differed from Singapore’s in one crucial aspect: Malaysia calculates the index based on PM10 levels, while Singapore measures both PM10 and PM2.5.

PM10 refers to fine particulate matter that are equal to or smaller than 10 micrometres (or microns), while PM2.5 refers to ultrafine particulates that are 2.5 micrometres.

A strand of human hair is typically around 30 to 40 micrometres.

Singapore began incorporating the PM2.5 system in April last year to derive its PSI.

During the haze season, PM10 (or PM2.5) is the most common determinant of the API, which also takes into account four pollutants – sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide.

“Air pollutant readings based on the PM2.5 system are generally higher than those based on PM10. However, it should not matter much as the classification for good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous remain the same, regardless of whether it is PM2.5 or PM10,” said Department of Environment director-general Datuk Halimah Hassan.

Hamim said only 12 air quality monitoring stations in Malaysia could capture data on PM2.5, and the Government was expected to equip all its 52 monitoring stations to be PM2.5-compliant by 2017.

This upgrade will cost RM6.24mil, while the annual operating cost of all stations will be RM840,000.

Yesterday morning, air quality deteriorated with 17 areas recording unhealthy levels compared to 11 places on Tuesday evening.

The highest levels were recorded in Bukit Rambai, Malacca (153) and Port Dickson (141). Both Port Klang and Shah Alam had readings of 102.

The most affected areas in Johor were Pasir Gudang (132), Larkin (123) and Kota Tinggi (107).

In George Town, residents woke up to a hazy day again after several days of clear skies. By 2pm, that familiar smoky smell was everywhere.

Housewife Wendy Teoh, 32, said she had to give her morning market visit a miss.

“I did not want to risk having my asthma act up,” she said.

Resident L. Vishwa, who had wanted to go for his daily evening run, said: “I thought the past few days of clear skies was an indication that there was no more haze.”

Easterly Winds In Early October Will Reduce Haze - Environment Ministry
Bernama 30 Sep 15;

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- The transboundary haze from Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia is expected to dissipate as Malaysia is forecast to receive easterly winds in early October.

'This situation will bring rainfall in most areas in the west coast of the peninsula and parts of western Sarawak in the afternoon and evening.

"It will hopefully reduce the haze from what we are experiencing right now," said a statement by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) based in Singapore detected 99 hotspots in Indonesia yesterday (Sept 29) of which 50 were in Kalimantan and 49 in Sumatera.

No hotspots were detected in Malaysia, said the statement. Meanwhile, the Department of the Environment (DOE) detected 3,427 open burning cases throughout the country until September 27.

Forest areas accounted for 597 cases, agricultural areas (1,197); industrial areas (19); construction areas (67); landfills (94); bushes (689) and small open burning (764).

For the same period, 216 open burning cases were issued compounds, 15 were issued with directive notices, 41 were issued with directive letters while 23 cases involved investigation papers.

--BERNAMA


Haze still visible in Sarawak as smoke from Kalimantan spreads
YU JI The Star 30 Sep 15;

KUCHING: Lesser but still visible haze remains in Sarawak on Wednesday as smoke from Kalimantan continued to spread to the surrounding region.

As at 2pm, all 10 Air Pollutant Index (API) monitoring stations in Sarawak reported readings under the 100 moderate readings.

Two stations, Kapit and Limbang, had good range readings of 45 and 37.

In Kuching the 24-hour averaged API was 66, but with low visibility of just 1.2km.

No flight disruptions were reported at Kuching International Airport.

The API in the state capital dropped below the 100 reading since 2pm Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the API in Sibu was 54 and in Miri, 70.

A total of 104 hotpots were detected in Kalimantan on Tuesday, according to Terra satellite images from the Singapore based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre.

The centre said the low hotspot count was due to cloud cover over parts of the island.

"Widespread moderate to dense smoke haze was observed in Kalimantan and spread over to the South China Sea.

“Moderate to dense smoke haze continued to persist in central and southern Sumatra.

Some of the haze has spread into the southern part of the Strait of Malacca and parts of Peninsular Malaysia," said its latest update.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (Met) is forecasting isolated thunderstorms across Sarawak daily for the next week.

In the Met's El Nino outlook for October to March is forecast that the unusually hot and dry weather would peak late this year until early next year.

"There is a 95% chance the current El Nino condition will peak between late November and January, and gradually weaken through March and May," it said.

According to Met spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip, the phasing out of Typhoon Dujuan in Taiwan on Tuesday pulled winds from clearer parts of Indonesia.

“More rain is expected in the next two or three days, which will cause haze levels to gradually decline,” Hisham said on Tuesday.

However, another low-pressure area is slowly building up in the northern part of the South China Sea close to west of the Philippines.

“This means on Saturday or Sunday, the winds will shift again, bringing back the air from the dense haze areas in Indonesia to Malaysia,” he said.

Haze: 17 areas record unhealthy air at 11am
The Star 30 Sep 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: The west coast areas of the peninsular remained shrouded in unhealthy air as at 11am Wednesday.

The Department of Environment stated that Bukit Rambai, Malacca recorded the highest air pollutant index (API) reading of 148, followed by Port Dickson (143), Seremban (117) and Milai (118) in Negri Sembilan and Malacca City 138.

In the Klang Valley, Banting recorded an API of 128, followed by Port Klang 104, Shah Alam 108 and Putrajaya 111.

In Johor, the API reading for Kota Tinggi was 103, Larkin Lama (116), Muar (119) and Pasir Gudang (127) while Balok Baru and Indera Mahkota in Pahang has readings of 133 and 103.

In Terengganu, Kemaman recorded 125 and Paka 112.

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 300 and above, hazardous.

Twenty-four cloud seeding op done, more to come
ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL New Straits Times 30 Sep 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: The Air Force will continue daily cloud seeding operations in skies above areas badly affected by haze until the environmental disaster fully subsides, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim announced today.

Shahidan, who also chairs the National Security Council (NSC), said the cloud seeding done 24 times since last Friday has thus far not solved the problem, calling for continued efforts daily to encourage rain through cloud seeding.

"This is cross border haze, which is caused by extensive burning in Indonesia, which affects us. What we have decided today is what we could all do best to help ease the situation in our country," said Shahidan after chairing the national disaster management committee meeting at his office today.

At the meeting, the committee was also briefed by the Department of Environment (DOE) on a new phenomenon in changes in the movement of wind that has further brought more haze to the country.

"This means that the haze is no longer coming in our direction only from Sumatera, but also from Kalimantan. The DOE have also forecasted through the reading of wind direction that on Friday we will have moderate levels of haze," said Shahidan, who added that all government agencies have been instructed to continuously monitor the situation.

"Agencies need to continuously monitor the situation and take the necessary steps, particularly the Education Ministry and related agencies. Monitoring should not only be based on official readings, but also on the physical state of the haze. Sometimes the air pollution index (API) readings may provide lower readings, but physically the area is struck with thick haze," he said.

Shahidan also said the council has also called upon state governments, their agencies and local governments in areas affected by haze to distribute face masks and mineral water to the public to help ease their burden.

"The NSC will be distributing these items in affected areas too, but we also call upon good Samaritans to come forward and help the public," said Shahidan.


Liow Instructs DCA, Marine Department To Submit Daily Reports On Haze
Bernama 30 Sep 15;

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has directed the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and Maritime Department to submit daily reports to him on the haze.

Liow said he gave the departments a week to compile the reports and would table the findings at the next Cabinet meeting.

He said the report would show how the aviation industry and ports were affected by the haze and measures that could be taken to reduce flight disruption.

"The haze has affected not only the economy and health but also the aviation industry which saw many flights being delayed, cancelled and re-directed.

"We are compiling this report to inform the Indonesian government that the haze is really affecting us (Malaysia) and how serious the situation is," he said when met by reporters after attending the Cabinet meeting today.

He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who chaired the cabinet meeting had briefed on the haze situation and that the government would be working with Indonesia to resolve the issue.

For the past weeks, Liow said the haze had worsened causing many flight cancellations and delays, while airports including in Subang, Sarawak and Johor were also affected.

In addition, he said the ministry had also instructed the Marine Department to issue haze warnings to vessels and ships operating at all ports in the country.

"We have issued circulars to ports and operators to ensure the safety of the ports. West Port too has also issued circulars to all vessels.

"Should visibility fall to below one nautical mile due to haze, fishing boats and small crafts should stop operations for their safety," he said.

Liow said the ministry would continue to monitor the situation at all ports including the Straits of Malacca.

On preventive measures, he said the ministry was working closely with the Natural Environment and Resources Ministry on cloud-seeding at affected airport areas such as Subang, Senai (Johor) and smaller airports in Kuching, Sarawak.

-- BERNAMA