Air quality in Serian nears emergency level at 495

At 7am today, the air quality in Serian, Sarawak, measured 495 on the pollutant index (API). This reading is alarmingly close to the 500 mark, which would trigger an emergency declaration. The environment department's API portal was unable to provide further updates on Serian's situation by 8.45am, displaying "not available" for its station's reading.

Sarawak's Deputy Premier Douglas Uggah Embas had previously stated that a haze emergency would be declared at the district level if an area's API reached the 500 threshold. Currently, three areas in Sarawak - Kuching (298), Samarahan (273) and Sri Aman (248) - are experiencing very unhealthy air quality. The remainder of the state reports unhealthy API readings, with only a few areas maintaining moderate air quality, such as Limbang (98), Miri (93) and Kapit (90).

Sabah's air quality has also improved, with only Sandakan (152) and the Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic (118) showing unhealthy API levels. In northern West Malaysia, most areas reported moderate API readings, while 10 regions in Kedah, Penang and Kelantan enjoyed good air quality. However, Johor still faces unhealthy air quality in Pasir Gudang (110) and Segamat (107).