Malaysia: Bushfires on the rise in Sabah

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 20 Mar 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The state Fire and Rescue Department is receiving an average of 80 calls per day about bushfires in the past two weeks.

Director Kamarulzaman Malik Abdullah said Tuaran and Keningau had the most reports.

“Open burning activities are contributing to the haze. Although (the haze) subsided somewhat yesterday because of rain, the department has now received more calls involving bushfires in several areas.

“The fires are not spontaneous. They are man-made,” he told the New Straits Times today.

Kamarulzaman said most of the bush fires were occurring by the roadside, and in farms or orchards.

He said forest reserves were not affected.

He said firefighters were working round the clock to respond to bushfires.

He said the department had recorded one death so far.

On Monday, the body of a 87-year-old man was found after firefighters put out a fire at a fruit orchard in Kampung Mansud, Kuala Penyu.

According to the Environment Department’s portal, Sabah is recording moderate Air Pollutant Index (API), with Kimanis having the highest reading of 69 at 1pm today.

The second highest API reading was in Kota Kinabalu (63), followed by Labuan (59) and Keningau (54).

The API reading in Sabah’s east coast is relatively good with Sandakan recording a reading of 27, while Tawau was 38.

State Environment Department director Tunku Khalkausar Tunku Fathahi told NST that the API readings had improved, compared with readings taken on March 15 and 16.

“The department is increasing patrols and enforcement against open burning.

“All quarters are advised to look after their own land, so that they do not catch fire and there is no open burning.

“Open burning on peat soil is completely prohibited.

“The public is advised to limit outdoor activities and wear N95 masks to protect against poor air quality.”

Haze might return to Sarawak; public urged to stop open burning activities
Mohd Roji Kawi New Straits Times 20 Mar 19;

KUCHING: The haze could make a return to Sarawak soon following the hot and dry spell over the last one week.

Sarawak fire and rescue department director Khirudin Drahman has urged the public to stop open burning activities, so as not to make the situation worse.

“Apart from that, the hot and dry spell is also causing more peat fires, which pose a challenge to the fire department. I call upon the public to work together and help to prevent these from happening,” he added.

On Tuesday, a total of eight forest fires were reported in Mukah, Tanjung Manis, Limbang, Lawas dan Lopeng. That brings the figure to 147 since March 1, involving 106.5 hectares of land.

“The haze can be contained if all parties cooperate during the dry and hot season. Stop all open burning activities,” he added.

The Fire department, Khirudin said, together with Department of Environment (DOE) and the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) will be monitoring the situation closely, and act against irresponsible individuals or parties who engage in open burning activities.

The air pollution index (API) reading at 10 stations in the state was recorded at moderate levels yesterday, between 51 and 59.


Selangor bars open burning, advises people to stay indoors
Hee Loy Sian New Straits Times 20 Mar 19;

SHAH ALAM: Selangor had, two days ago, entered the early warning stage of the National Haze Action Plan after the Department of Environment (DoE)’s Air Pollution Index (API) in Banting and Shah Alam hit the unhealthy level on Sunday and today respectively with the readings of over 100.

Following that, the Selangor state government today issued a warning against anyone carrying out open burning activities and for everyone to stay indoors.

State government executive councillor for Selangor Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs committee chairman Hee Loy Sian warned that irresponsible parties caught committing open burning risk being immediately compounded a maximum of RM2,000 under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

Under Section 29(A) of the same Act, one can be fined not more than RM500,000 or imprisonment less than five years, or both, if found guilty.

Hee added that from January up to yesterday, five individuals and companies have been fined by the DoE for open burning activities while an investigation paper has been opened.

“We will come down hard on the culprits and there will be no compromise. The Selangor DoE is actively patrolling open burning prone areas such as Johan Setia, from 2pm to 11pm daily, and we are also deploying drones to detect such activities.

“We also urge the public to reduce outdoors activities. We advise school administrators to halt all out of classroom activities that involve students and to postpone gatherings and sports programmes that would be held out of school buildings,” said Hee in a press conference held on the side lines of the Selangor state legislative assembly sitting at the state secretariat building today.

Also present was Selangor DoE director Shafee Yasin.

State education department director Mohd Salleh Mohd Kassim had on Monday said a reminder has been sent out to its district offices and schools that all outdoor activities must be stopped if the API is over 100.

If the API reading goes over 200, which is very unhealthy level, all schools in the affected areas and districts must be closed immediately.

Hee said the cause of haze in Selangor stemmed from bush and forest fires in Sepang and Kuala Langat districts following the dry and hot spell phenomenon.

The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, added Hee, is currently battling to douse fires in Banting at Hutan Simpan Kekal Kompartment 12, 13, 15; at KM27 of Elite Highway northbound; and Jalan Lapis 5 in Kampung Baharu Sungai Pelek.


'Haze problem linked to car dependency'
Veena Babulal and Mohd Syahmi Rasydan New Straits Times 21 Mar 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians’ annual problem with haze will only get worse as the years go by thanks to our dependency on vehicles.

In fact, the problem could get even more frequent, intense and prolonged, Universiti Putra Malaysia sustainability expert Dr Mohd Yusoff Ishak said.

He said Malaysia might experience haze several times a year, even during periods when the phenomenon had not occurred before.

He added that the problem could drag on for months at a time.

“The main culprit is our dependency on private vehicles,” he said, commenting on localised haze occurring at various spots in the country.

Yusoff said some degree of localised haze could be expected during the inter-monsoon period, but the current scale was different compared with previous years.

Up to June 2017, there were 28.2 million registered vehicles in Malaysia, and the number was expected to grow steadily.

Yusoff’s statement echoed that of then natural resources and environment minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar in 2015, who had said the transboundary haze problem was aggravated by carbon emissions from cars.

But Yusoff said there were other factors contributing to the problem at the moment.

He said the dry conditions meant that developers and contractors could take full advantage of the weather to push their construction projects full swing.

“This causes the volume of dust discharged into the air to be much higher.

“The absence of parks in cities also means that there are not enough trees that can trap the dust in their canopies.”

He said these two factors, coupled with deforestation, which also decimated water catchment areas, caused the “heat island” phenomenon in the city.

“What we can do is come up with a transportation master plan for the Greater Kuala Lumpur area and weigh up matters, such as introducing a charge for vehicles entering the city, as well as build more pocket parks in high-density areas in the cities so that air quality can be regulated,” he said.

“These parks should be interconnected so that they can also serve as walkways and trails, so that it can be used by commuters or cyclists to get from one part of the city to another along a shaded stretch.”

He said the government could use the Putrajaya model of pocket parks to begin with and expand it later.

Meteorological Department National Weather and Geophysics Operations Centre director Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said haze, or smog, was common whenever there was no rain in a large area for a period of time.

“This normally occurs during the dry conditions in February and March. It (the haze now) is, however, not significant as it’s from a local source.

“The kind of haze that we have to look out for is the transboundary haze, which comes with the southwest monsoon, which runs from August to October.”

However, he said, the winds were blowing in all directions, typical of the inter-monsoon season and of lots of areas were beginning to get rain.

“So we are hopeful that the haze will clear with the rain in April.”

Up to 3pm yesterday, the highest Air Pollutant Index (API) reading recorded was in Shah Alam at 108, which falls within the unhealthy band of between 101 and 200.

This was followed by Putrajaya (98), Klang (96), Petaling Jaya (86) and Kuala Selangor (85).

In Negri Sembilan, Nilai recorded an API reading of 81, with Port Dickson reading 79. Alor Gajah and Bukit Rambai in Melaka recorded index readings of 81 and 71, respectively, while in Johor, Segamat and Tangkak both recorded an API of 78.

Readings of between 51 and 100 show a moderate API level.