AIR quality in three Sarawak divisions, namely Sri Aman, Kuching and Serian deteriorated to an unhealthy level between September 1 and 4 due to the smoke caused by open burning in a neighbouring country.

Sarawak Deputy Energy and Environmental Sustainability Minister Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said the air pollutant index (API) readings for Sri Aman were between 100 and 155, while Kuching and Serian started recording unhealthy readings from September 4.

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and 300 and above, hazardous.

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre said a total of 1,059 hotspots were detected in the provinces of a neighbouring country during the four days.

He said the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board had activated the standard operating procedure as an internal control to ensure that there was no local open burning that contributed to the smog.

“(This) includes active patrols and detection of hotspot areas, the implementation of open-burning ban awareness programmes, not issuing any open burning permits and enforcing open burning bans to all project developers,” he said in a statement today. – Bernama, September 6, 2023.