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Kuching, Sri Aman and Serian divisions show unhealthy air quality as of 6pm

Posted on 04 Sep 2023
Source of News: the borneo post online

The API reading for Kuching hit 133 as of 6pm today, the third highest unhealthy air status behind Sri Aman and Serian. — File photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING (Sept 4): Three divisions in Sarawak – Kuching, Sri Aman and Serian – recorded unhealthy air pollutant index (API) readings as of 6pm today, according to the hourly readings on the Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia’s (APIMS) website.

 

Sri Aman showed the highest API at 152, followed by Serian (151) and Kuching (133).

Compared to the API readings at 12pm, Sri Aman recorded a reading of 154, followed by Serian (133) and Kuching (123).

Other parts of Sarawak recorded moderate API readings.

 

Kuching started recording unhealthy air quality at 12am today when the API reading hit 110, while Serian showed unhealthy air quality at 1pm when it recorded a reading of 108. Sri Aman’s air quality has been in the unhealthy range since last Friday.

An unhealthy API clocks readings of 101 to 200. According to the APIMS website, unhealthy API can worsen the health condition of high-risk people, particularly those with heart and lung complications.

Earlier today, The Borneo Post reported that the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) warned of an elevated risk of transboundary haze in the border region between West Kalimantan and western Sarawak, as less rainfall is predicted in most parts of the Borneo island during the dry season expected to peak this month.

 

ASMC said the situation was also not helped with Indonesia currently seeing many forest and land fires occurring throughout West, South and Central Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, on Aug 31, Indonesian daily Kompas reported that the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan – the Indonesian region closest to Sarawak – had increased, while operations to extinguish forest and land fires through land routes were still ongoing.

The daily also quoted a Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency observationalist at the Supadio Airport in Pontianak, Tika as saying that hotspots in West Kalimantan on Aug 29 amounted to 536 spots.

 

“These hotspots were scattered throughout almost all districts or cities in West Kalimantan. The highest number of hot spots was found in Ketapang Regency, which amounted to 194 spots,” it added.