Malaysia: Haze forces schools to close

The Star 19 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: Primary and se­­condary schools in several states are closed today because of the worsening haze.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid announced that the schools involved were those in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur as well as Tawau in Sabah, and Kuching and Samarahan in Sarawak.

The air pollutant index of these areas showed readings of more than 120 at 7pm yesterday.

He also said the Malaysian Reli­gious Higher Certificate examinations would continue.


Asthma patients suffer under haze
RAZAK AHMAD, STEPHANIE LEE, AND VINCENT LIAN The Star 19 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: The haze has worsened in the west coast of the peninsula, Sarawak and Sabah, forcing asthma patients and those with respiratory ailments to pay more visits to the doctor for treatment.

After several days of clear weather, the air quality in the Klang Valley, Malacca, Negri Sembilan as well as parts of Sarawak and Sabah fell to unhealthy levels yesterday due to shifting winds, which brought more smoke from land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kali­mantan, Indonesia.

An asthma patient, who only wished to be known as Noor Azah, 52, said she had to go to the hospital to get a nebuliser treatment when the haze worsened yesterday.

“I have been wearing a face mask every day for more than month as a safety precaution. But, every time the haze gets bad, I become very worried,” she said when met at a private hospital here.

A doctor, who runs a private clinic in Batu Caves, said she has seen more patients coming in complaining of coughs and other respiratory problems since the haze emerged. Most of them were young officeworkers.

“The haze is partly a factor causing their health problems,” said the doctor who declined to be named.

As of 5pm yesterday, 15 areas recorded unhealthy air quality, with the highest Air Pollutant Index reading recorded in Tawau at 130.

A reading of 100 to 200 indicates unhealthy air quality, 201 to 300 is very unhealthy, and above 300 is hazardous.

Other areas with unhealthy readings at 5pm were Banting (122), Ma­­­­lacca City (121), Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur (118), Seremban (118), Nilai (117), Bukit Rambai (114), Putrajaya (112), Petaling Jaya (109), Port Dickson (109), Port Klang (115), Samarahan (110), Shah Alam (110), Cheras (103), and Kuching (100).

The haze has cut visibility at Sa­­bah’s Tawau airport, causing flight cancellations which left several hundred passengers stranded.

An airport spokesman said two flights – Malaysia Airlines Flight MH2121 from Kota Kinabalu, and the return flight MH2122 – were cancelled yesterday morning.

An AirAsia AK5748 flight from Kuala Lum­­­pur to Tawau that was supposed to land at 3.15pm, was diverted to Kota Kinabalu.


Hundreds of passengers stranded after flights cancelled in Sabah
STEPHANIE LEE The Star 18 Oct 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Several inbound and outbound flights involving the Tawau-Kota Kinabalu route have been cancelled due to the worsening haze, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in airports.

On Sunday morning, two flights were cancelled - Tawau bound MH2121 and Kota Kinabalu bound MH2122.

Another flight from Kuala Lumpur bound for Tawau - AK5748 - that was supposed to land at 3.15pm was delayed and subsequently diverted here.

“The passengers are restless and angry but we have no choice because we can’t fly in this hazy condition,” said a spokesman of Tawau airport who did not want to be identified.

She said the safety of passengers was of utmost importance and the flights would commence as soon as visibility improves.

It is also understood that the MASwings flight MH2121 from here to Tawau had to be diverted to Brunei due to the haze.

More areas with unhealthy air at 2pm
The Star 18 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: More areas recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) reading at 2pm Sunday compared to earlier in the day.

Petaling Jaya (101), Shah Alam (104), Putrajaya (103), Batu Muda (103), Seremban (102), Port Dickson (103) and Nilai (104) in Negri Sembilan have all registered unhealthy air at 2pm.

Malacca City (114), Bukit Rambai (106), Port Klang (110) and Banting (109) continue to stay in the unhealthy range like in the morning.

In Sarawak, the air quality in Samarahan registered an API of 109 and Kuching 102.

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).

Haze: Schools in several states ordered to close tomorrow
New Straits Times 18 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: All schools in Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Putrajaya, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Tawau, Kuching and Samarahan have been ordered to close tomorrow (Monday) following the worsening haze situation.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in his latest Facebook posting today said the ministry took the decision following the Air Pollutants Index (API) readings in the areas mentioned continuing to be on the uptrend.

He, however, said the the Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) and Kolej Vokasional examinations would continue as normal under ‘Ops Topeng’.

As of 6 pm today, two more areas, Tanjung Malim and Cheras recorded unhealthy quality, bringing to 16 the number of areas with air quality at this level.

According to the Department of Environment, the API reading for Tanjung Malim, Perak was 102 while for Cheras, Kuala Lumpur it was 105.

At 2pm, 14 areas recorded unhealthy APIs, namely Bandaraya Melaka (122) and Bukit Rambai (116), Melaka; Nilai (120), Port Dickson (111) and Seremban (121), Negeri Sembilan; Tawau (135), Sabah; Kuching (101) and Samarahan (110), Sarawak; Banting (124), Port Klang (116), Petaling Jaya (110) and Shah Alam (111), Selangor; Batu Muda (121), Kuala Lumpur; and Putrajaya (116).

An API of between 0 to 50 is good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and 301 and above (dangerous). The public can refer to the apims.doe.gov.my portal for the latest API readings. -- Bernama

Haze: Tawau remains the worst-hit area
ALIZA SHAH New Straits Times 18 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: The air quality in the country continues to deteriorate with Tawau, Sabah remained as the worst-hit area as of 5pm today.
New Straits Times check on the Department of Environment’s portal showed that 14 areas recorded unhealthy readings where most of the Air Pollutant Index (API) showed an increasing pattern.

Tawau recorded an API of 130 compared to 101 this morning. Banting was the second highest with 122 compared to 104 earlier, followed by Malacca city centre with 121 compared to 109.

Others areas that recorded unhealthy readings were Bukit Rambai (114), Nilai (117), Port Dickson (109), Seremban (118), Samarahan (110), Port Klang (115) Petaling Jaya (109), Shah Alam (110), Batu Muda Kuala Lumpur (118), Cheras (103) and Putrajaya (112).

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said the bad air quality was due to the dust particles that was blown from the southwest direction in Sumatera and Kalimantan, Indonesia across the borders.

“The strong wind was due to the present of two tropical storms namely Koppu and Champi that are still active in the Pacific Ocean.

“Both tropical storms will influence the wind pattern in the country, until this Wednesday (Oct 21),” the ministry said in a statement.