SRI Aman’s air quality continued to be classified as hazardous as smoke from forest fires enveloping the southern part of Sarawak shows no signs of abating.

At 7pm, the air pollutant index (API) reading for Sri Aman was in the hazardous threshold of 392.

The air in Sarawak’s capital Kuching is recorded as very unhealthy with an API reading of 214, while major towns, Sibu, Samarhan, Sarikei, Miri, Bintulu and Samalaju recorded unhealthy levels.

A reading of 0-50 is good, 51-100 is moderate, 101-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy, and 300 and above is hazardous.

The air quality in the rest of Malaysia showed no signs of improving, with another three areas recording unhealthy API readings of above 100.

These areas are in Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Selangor, the Federal Territories and parts of Johor, Perak and Pahang.

The air quality in Seri Manjung in Perak meanwhile, has breached the ‘very unhealthy’ mark at 230.

Port Dickson’s air, which in the morning had been categorized as very unhealthy, has marginally improved to unhealthy at 196 API.

The air in Nilai and Johan Setia, in Klang, continued to be very unhealthy, with API readings of 207 and 230 respectively.

Thirty areas this evening have unhealthy air, up from 27 at 10am this morning.

As the air quality continues to deteriorate, the Education Ministry has temporarily cancelled classes at 636 schools, most of them in Sarawak, resulting in 128,291 pupils and students staying home. – September 17, 2019.