Haze unlikely to clear soon

KUALA LUMPUR: The current hazy conditions in the Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan will not be going away anytime soon. No rain has been forecast today for the central region, with rain expected only in east Johor and south Perak.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) said the haze that had so far engulfed the three states and parts of Johor, was caused by raging fires in Sumatra and parts of Borneo.


A large portion of Seremban was engulfed yesterday morning, reducing visibility to between 200 and 300 metres in certain areas, including stretches of the Kuala Lumpur- Seremban Expressway. Although the air quality had not reached hazardous levels in the town, the State Health Department advised those with respiratory illnesses to remain indoors.


In Senai, flight operations at Sultan Ismail International Airport were disrupted early yesterday due to low visibility caused by the haze.

MMD central forecast office’s principal assistant director, Amir Zudi, said apart from east Johor and south Perak, there would be no rainfall in the rest of Peninsular Malaysia today.


He said this meant there would be no immediate respite from the haze.


“The haze effects will linger for sometime since it is not going to rain today. It was also dry yesterday,” he said.

The Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index revealed the air quality in 37 out of 51 areas in the country were classified as “moder - at e ” when measured at 7am yesterday.


There are five levels of classifications — good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous.


A ParticulateMatter (PM-10) reading of 51 to 100 is classified as “moderate ”.

This was confirmed by directorgeneral of health Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman who said the quality was down but had not reached hazardous levels yet. He added that the ministry was currently liaising with the DOE for further updates about the haze situation but as for now, the air quality was still at a normal level.


The last time the country was hit with severe hazy conditions was in 2005.


Port Klang and Kuala Selangor were declared to be in a state of emergency when PM-10 readings went as high as 500.


The 2005 haze, caused by massive forest fires from neighbouring countries, was the worst that had hit Malaysia since 1998, where services across the country were crippled.


Workplaces and schools were forced to shut down due to risk of contracting respiratory illnesses.