THE Johor Department of Environment (DoE) has received 213 open burning reports as of yesterday.

State health and environment committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said Johor DoE, together with other relevant agencies, were implementing several measures to prevent open burning, especially conducting physical patrols to monitor open burning incidents by irresponsible parties.

“We have also increased the frequency of air monitoring through the use of drones in fire risk and flammable areas such as peatland and landfills, as well as increasing communication, education and public awareness programmes,” he said in a statement today.

Vidyananthan said the department always monitored the current air quality through eight DoE automated stations in the state, and weather forecasts by the Malaysian Meteorological Department, apart from stepping up enforcement.

He said the air pollutant index (API) readings at the eight automated stations at 9am showed that one station recorded good air quality, six stations recorded moderate levels while one station recorded unhealthy levels.

He said the CA66J Tangkak station recorded an API reading of 160, which was unhealthy. Investigations by the Muar branch found there was a fire involving rubbish in front of the station and this has since being put out.

Vidyananthan also advised the public, especially landowners, to monitor their land, especially in areas that can easily catch fire such as peatland, agricultural areas, farms, construction sites, landfills, forests, bushes and industrial areas. – Bernama, March 10, 2021.