Serian API hits ‘Very Unhealthy’ level of 241 as Sarawak air quality worsens

Serian's air quality has reached a concerning "Very Unhealthy" level of 241 as reported by the monitoring station at the Serian District Police Headquarters on Friday morning. The Department of Environment's Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) website revealed that eight monitoring stations in Sarawak are currently showing unhealthy readings.

Sri Aman had the highest API reading at 189, followed by Kuching at 186, Samarahan at 179, Sarikei at 173, Sibu at 156, Bintulu at 154, Samalaju at 145, and Kapit at 129. The remaining four DoE monitoring stations in Sarawak recorded moderate API readings, with 96 in Mukah, 77 in Miri and ILP Miri, and 63 in Limbang. This worsening air quality in Serian is primarily attributed to transboundary haze originating from West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) noted that dry conditions persisted over most parts of southern ASEAN, except for northern Borneo, where some showers were observed. Scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in Indonesia's Kalimantan and Sumatra, while few to isolated hotspots were detected elsewhere in southern ASEAN.

As of Thursday, there were 298 hotspots detected in Kalimantan, with the highest number on August 18, when 1,079 hotspots were recorded. The ASMC reported moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes emanating from hotspot clusters in West Kalimantan, drifting northwards into Sarawak's western and central regions. However, cloud cover prevented a full assessment of the situation.

The ASMC emphasized that dry conditions are expected over most of southern ASEAN in the coming days, except for northern Borneo and northern and western Sumatra, where showers are forecast. Consequently, the hotspot and smoke haze situation could continue to worsen in areas experiencing prolonged dry weather, posing a continued risk of transboundary haze occurrence.