Malayasian authorities are stepping up
vigilance nationwide against the haze that is expected to worsen in the next
few days.
The
Department of Environment (DOE) has imposed a blanket ban on open burning in
Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya while the Education Ministry is monitoring
the situation. The Malaysian Medical Association is also advising the public on
how to deal with the haze.
The
ministry opened an operations room in Putrajaya yesterday to monitor the haze
and keep schools informed on whether to stay open.
“We
know the haze is becoming worse,” said Education director-general Tan Sri Abd
Ghafar Mahmud.
He
added that the operations room would liaise with district education offices to
keep them informed on how bad the haze is at the different locales.
The
2005 circular issued to school heads when Malaysia was hit with one of the
worst incidents of haze remains in force.
Schools
will be closed once the Air Pollutant Index (API) in their area reaches 400
while all sporting and outdoor activities will be cancelled once the API hits
the “hazardous” level of 300.
Abd
Ghafar said: “We want the principals to monitor the situation in their schools
and to contact the district education office for the next course of action.”
As at
5pm yesterday, the air quality had deteriorated in Selangor with seven areas
recording an unhealthy reading of more than 100 on the API up from Friday's
four areas.
It was
reported that the haze originated from peat and forest fires in the Riau
district of central Sumatra. Yesterday morning, a Nasa satellite reported 591
hotspots in Sumatra.
Several
parts of Selangor, however, got a brief respite from the choking smog after
heavy rain in Hulu Selangor.
The DOE
warned: “Those convicted of open burning will be fined up to 500,000 ringgit
(U$158,100) or jailed up to five years or both. A maximum compound of 2,000
ringgit ($630) may also be meted out.”
Its
director-general Halimah Hassan said in a statement yesterday that cremation,
burning of religious paraphernalia and barbecues were exempted from the ban.
However,
the situation is not so bad as to require flight diversions, according to
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.
“So
far, there are no abnormal operations,” said senior general manager of
operations Datuk Azmi Murad.
Regina
Lee, Ong Han Sean, Gopiraj Nair and K. Ashok
The
Star
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