KUANTAN – Schools can opt to postpone outdoor activities, among others, as the country grapples with the worsening air quality, said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
She said outdoor activities can be exempted when the Air Pollutant Index (API) exceeds 100, which is deemed unhealthy, adding that this is an existing directive by the ministry.
An API reading is categorised as 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), and 101-200 (unhealthy).
The air quality in the Klang Valley has not seen much improvement since last night, as eight monitoring stations recorded “unhealthy” readings as of 8am, including Cheras and Nilai. This is followed by Shah Alam (158), Putrajaya and Banting (157), and Batu Muda (154) as well as Klang and Johan Setia (153).
She was also quoted as saying by Bernama here that her ministry will seek advice and recommendations from the Health Ministry on whether schools should be temporarily closed.
“We will seek advice from the Health Ministry from time to time on whether to close schools or wear face masks and so on.”
Last Friday, the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) activated an Alert Level 2 warning for Sumatra.
ASMC said over the past week, extended dry weather conditions became more widespread across southern Asean, which contributed to an increase in the number of hotspots in the region.
Based on surveillance from the NOAA-20 satellite, 241 and 145 hotspots were detected in Sumatra last Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Moderate to dense smoke haze was observed to emanate from clusters of hotspots detected in the central and southern parts of Sumatra, increasing the risk of transboundary smoke haze. – October 2, 2023