Malaysia's Sarawak state ordered schools to suspend outdoor activities and authorities prepared to distribute 1.3 million masks as hazy conditions caused by land-clearing fires worsened, a report said Friday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia's Sarawak state ordered schools to suspend outdoor activities and authorities prepared to distribute 1.3 million masks as hazy conditions caused by land-clearing fires worsened, a report said Friday.
By late Thursday, the air pollution index had reached "unhealthy" levels in six out of 10 monitoring stations around the state, including major urban centers, the Department of Environment said on its Web site.
Deputy Chief Minister George Chan was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying there were 200 cases on Thursday of respiratory ailments such as asthma in the state, located on Borneo island, compared to the usual 40 or 50 a day.
Those working outdoors will be given priority in receiving the masks, the report said. Chan was not immediately available for comment.
Land-clearing fires approved by the state government on plantations have raged out of control due to dry weather, destroying some 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of oil palm plantations and contributing to the deteriorating air quality, the newspaper said.
Satellite images showed 75 "hot spots"-- or fires-- and 642 others in the neighboring Indonesian province of Kalimantan, Chan said.
He said the state was requesting an aircraft from the Royal Malaysian Air Force to begin cloud seeding to induce rains. Firefighters were also building fire breaks or flooding the dry peat soil in plantations near burning areas, the report said.
Haze often occurs during the region's midyear dry season, when farmers -- some in Malaysia but mostly on Indonesia's Sumatra island and Kalimantan province -- set illegal brush fires to clear land for planting.
Weather officials have said the absence of strong winds has helped keep skies over other Malaysian states relatively clear. However, only seven out of 51 air quality monitoring stations nationwide recorded "good" air levels Thursday, while the rest were "moderate" or "unhealthy."
Source: Associated Press
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