Haze: 1,037 schools in Sarawak ordered to close

KUCHING (Bernama) - A total of 1,037 schools in 20 districts affected by the worsening haze situation in Sarawak were ordered to close Friday (Sept 20).

The state education department said the closure involved 136 secondary schools and 901 primary schools, affecting 325,391 students.

Meanwhile, the state disaster management (JPBN) secretariat in a statement said as of 8am today, Sri Aman recorded hazardous Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 402.

Four areas in the state also recorded very unhealthy air quality, namely, Kuching (248), Samarahan (218), Sibu (202) and Sarikei (234).

The other five areas recorded moderate API readings are Samalaju (100), ILP Miri (91), SK Baram (87), Kapit (97) and Limbang (76).

Today, the cloud seeding operation will be carried out with the help of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Charlie 130 Hercules aircraft.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good while 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above deemed hazardous.

People can refer to the http://apims.doe.gov.my website to find out the latest API readings. - Bernama

• Worsening haze: Sri Aman API exceeds 400