11 kawasan di Sarawak catat IPU tak sihat

According to the Sarawak Environment Department's IPU Management System website, 11 locations in Sarawak and one in Peninsular Malaysia have recorded unhealthy air quality, according to the Global Air Pollution Index (IPU) as of 7:19 AM today. Serian reported the highest unhealthy IPU reading of 189, followed by Samarahan (171), Kuching (166), Bintulu (159), Samalaju (156), Mukah and Sibu (154 each), Sarikei (153), Sri Aman (152), Miri (137) and Miri Industrial Training Institute (116).

Only one Peninsular location, Johan Setia in Selangor, has recorded an unhealthy air quality with an IPU reading of 153. There are 53 locations across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak with good air quality, while Jerantut in Pahang, Kangar in Perlis and Langkawi in Kedah reported good IPU readings. The IPU scale ranges from 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy), 301-400 (severe), 401-500 (severely dangerous) and over 501 (emergency).

On Friday, the Meteorology Department's significant weather forecast notice warned of hot and dry weather expected across most Borneo locations, including Sarawak until August 14. It said winds coming from the south and the anticipated number of heat points would remain high in neighboring countries, potentially causing haze transboundary spread and reducing visibility, particularly in southern Sarawak.

On Saturday, Sarawak Education Department asked all schools in the state to always monitor IPU readings in their respective areas and delay all outdoor classroom activities if the weather is too hot. For areas with an IPU reading above 100, it said all outdoor classroom activities involving students must be halted.