Malaysia: Hot and dry weather until October, says the weatherman

The Star 8 Aug 19;

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with less rainfall until October, says Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.

She said apart from Malaysia, neighbouring countries Singapore and Sumatra in Indonesia are expected to experience the same weather pattern.

"We expect to experience a shortage of rainfall with warmer and drier weather this year without the El Nino and La Nina phenomena until October, " she said when asked about the essence of the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting and the Ministerial Steering Committee Sub-Region on Cross-border Haze Pollution in Brunei.

She said this when contacted on the Bernama News Channel (BNC) talk showroom programme here Wednesday (Aug 7) night.

Commenting on the meeting, Isnaraissah said the five countries involved had presented measures taken to address fires and haze in their respective countries.

"Among the information shared was to carry out continuous monitoring of weather and hotspots, enforce the law and have the equipment prepared, mobilise human resources and co-ordinate fire-fighting, " she said.

The annual meeting involving four other Asean countries, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, was held to monitor and detail the steps taken in addressing cross-border haze.

The initiative to address the Asean haze problem began following a serious episode of pollution in 1997 that led to the Asean Convention on cross-border haze signed by 10 countries in Kuala Lumpur on June 10, 2002. - Bernama


48 hotspots detected in Malaysia and Indonesia
The Star 8 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: At least 48 hotspots have been identified in Malaysia and Indonesia as of yesterday, said the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).Its director-general Jailan Simon said two hotspots were discovered in Pahang and Johor, six in Kalimantan and 40 in Sumatra.

On Monday, MetMalaysia said there were four hotspots in the country, with all of them detected in Pahang.

Jailan said the department would continuously monitor the situation nationwide and will furnish information to the relevant agencies for enforcement as well as disaster management preparations.

“People are advised to follow the instructions from the authorities and not do any open burning, especially when the weather is hot and dry,” he said.

“We would also like to advise everyone to follow the health guidelines issued by the Health Ministry during the haze.”

Checks on the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index (API) website showed all stations in Malaysia were classified as “moderate”, except for one station.

The Johan Setia, Klang station recorded an “unhealthy” API level of up to 105 yesterday as at 5pm. It had a steady “unhealthy” reading from 5am yesterday.

API levels of 51 to 100 are classified as “moderate”, API levels above 100 are considered “unhealthy” and above 200 is “very unhealthy”.

National Water Services Commission chairman Charles Santiago said currently there is sufficient water, but he advised consumers to conserve water.

“I think we (may be) going into a dry spell soon but we need to conserve water; that is the responsibility of every household and business, to ensure that water is used responsibly,” he said.

Checks on the Selangor Water Management Authority’s website showed that water levels at most dams in the state are above 80%.

Santiago, however, said water operators and state governments in Negri Sembilan and Melaka have been monitoring the water levels regularly due to the dry and hot spell.


No end to forest fire woes
The Star 8 Aug 19;

MIRI: The forest fires are raging on and the city is shrouded in a thick veil of smog yet again.

The people here are fed up of the pollution.

This time, the fires rage on in Kuala Baram district, about 25km north of Miri city.

Firefighters from the Miri Fire and Rescue Department are once again busy on the ground tackling the fires.

Also, until now no one has been penalised for causing these forest fires.

Firefighters have doused fires on large tracts of land in Kuala Baram district but there are three huge hot spots still burning.

Miri Fire and Rescue Department chief Supt Law Poh Kiong said aerial water bombing was being carried out by the Heli Bomba teams.

Miri and Kuala Baram districts are plagued by forest fires and haze.The last major fire and haze here was only two months ago, from May to June, with the Air Pollutant Index in Miri and Kuala Baram exceeding the 300 level. – By STEPHEN THEN