04 October 2015•Update: 05 October 2015
By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia’s government has ordered a two-day closure of schools across most of the country as key populated areas recorded "very unhealthy" air quality readings Sunday amid a regional haze problem.
The haze, caused by the open burning of areas for agricultural purposes in neighboring Indonesia, has blanketed around 12 of Malaysia’s 13 states and three federal territories over the past three weeks.
While the situation had been under control over the past weeks, the haze in the Klang Valley metropolitan area surrounding capital Kuala Lumpur reached very unhealthy – and even hazardous -- levels Sunday morning, triggering a school closure announcement.
The country’s air pollutant index readings were highest in Selangor state’s capital Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur, with readings of 308 and 271, respectively, recorded at 9 a.m. (0100GMT).
On the index, levels of 201-300 are listed as “very unhealthy” with effects on public health while those over 300 are considered “hazardous to high risk people and public health.”
Readings in sea gateway Port Klang (243), Banting (249), administrative center Putrajaya (235) and Seremban (200) have been steadily increasing since Saturday.
Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid has announced the closure Monday and Tuesday of all schools nationwide, except for the northwestern state of Kelantan and Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan on eastern Borneo island.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy prime minister, said in a press conference Sunday that Malaysia would look into ways of emulating Singapore in technologies to measure its air pollution.
“Meanwhile, maybe we can use the standard in that neighboring country [Singapore] to be a guideline,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
“I don’t think we have different measurements, because we are only separated by a strait as a border, so there is nothing wrong – unless for ego reasons – if we use the technology of others for the benefit of our people while we wait for our own technology and equipment."
Both Malaysia and Singapore have been blanketed by haze for around one month, as Indonesia battles forest fires that have left thousands of people with respiratory infections, schools closed and flights disrupted.
