Sarawak wants emergency declared in Serian
Deputy premier says only Putrajaya can declare an emergency as the order must be signed off by the king.
Sarawak's deputy premier, Douglas Uggah Embas, is urging the federal government to declare a disaster emergency in Serian due to the severe haze causing the air pollution index (API) to skyrocket to 519. Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg is currently liaising with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the situation. The declaration of an emergency would ultimately be a decision by Putrajaya, as the king must sign off on the order.
Uggah expressed hope that once the emergency is declared, the public would comply, emphasizing that the primary objective is to safeguard residents' health. Uggah had previously stated that a haze emergency would be enacted at the district level if the API exceeded 500. Should a disaster emergency be declared, all government and private-sector offices and workplaces would remain closed, with the exception of essential services.
In September 1997, a haze emergency was implemented in Kuching when an API reading of 650 was recorded.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Sarawak wants emergency declared in Serian freemalaysiatoday.com
- King declares emergency in Serian over hazardous haze malaymail.com
- Emergency declared in Serian as haze reaches hazardous levels thevibes.com
- Malaysia declares state of emergency in Sarawak’s Serian after air pollutant index exceeds 500 channelnewsasia.com
