THE enforcement of the first phase of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18 until yesterday has not only helped in slowing the spread of Covid-19, but has helped reduce environmental pollution as well, said Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.  

This follows a reduction in activities that has resulted in less vehicle exhaust emission, industrial stack emission and open burning, he said.  

He said a detailed analysis by the Department of Environment (DoE) on several elements, namely nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and fine particles of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) found their levels have fallen significantly.

Tuan Ibrahim said the monitoring was conducted at air quality-monitoring stations in Batu Muda and Cheras in Kuala Lumpur, as well as Putrajaya.    

“All three areas recorded a marked drop of between 55 to 68% for NO2; 17 to 34% for SO2; 6 to 15% for CO; and, 6 to 14% for PM2.5,” he said in a statement today.

Tuan Ibrahim said apart from that, the DoE also expanded its analysis to air quality-monitoring stations at several major cities, such as Shah Alam, Ipoh, Penang, Kuantan, Seremban, Malacca, Johor Baru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu for the same period.

“The findings also showed a significant decrease in each parameter, with NO2 reduced between 11 to 62%, SO2 between 5 to 22%, CO between 2 to 25% and PM2.5 between 2 to 23%.” 

The latest hourly air pollutant index (API) is available on the DoE website and its official smart phone application, MyIPU.

Tuan Ibrahim also advised the people not to carry out opening burning to reduce the risk of fires in the hot and dry weather now.

The public can also report cases of open burning to the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 or the DoE’s toll-free line at 1-800-88-2727. – Bernama, March 31, 2020.