FIVE areas in Malaysia recorded very unhealthy air quality on the air pollutant index (API) as of 10am today.

Three of the five areas were in Sarawak with Kuching registering a reading of 247, the highest in the country, while Sri Aman and Samarahan each recorded 219.

The other two areas with very unhealthy API readings were Johan Setia (205) in Selangor and Putrajaya (203).

Twenty-nine areas recorded unhealthy air quality and 24 were moderate.

Ten areas in the northern region and east coast registered good air quality.

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

According to the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre, while dry conditions prevailed in many parts of the southern Asean region, there were brief isolated showers in the northern parts of Sumatra and Malaysia.

“In the northern Asean region, scattered showers fell over some parts of the Mekong sub-region and the Philippines due to rainbands associated with a tropical depression developing to the east of the Philippines.

“In the southern Asean region, dry conditions prevailed over many areas, but there were brief isolated showers in the northern parts of Sumatra and in parts of Malaysia.

“In Sumatra, moderate to dense smoke continued to be observed to emanate from persistent hotspots detected in the provinces of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, and Lampung,” it said.

The prevailing winds have been blowing smoke to parts of the Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore.

“In Kalimantan, persistent hotspots clusters continued to be detected in the west, central, south, and east Kalimantan provinces.

“Moderate to dense smoke haze from the hotspots continued to be observed over many areas in Kalimantan.

“Cloudy conditions over Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei obscured satellite observations, but hazy conditions and reduced visibility were reported in parts of Sarawak and Sabah, and Brunei.”

Going forward, with the hotspot activities in Sumatra and Kalimantan continuing under the prevailing dry weather, the hazy condition is expected to continue. – September 16, 2019.