Hanya 2 kawasan di Sarawak catat IPU sangat tak sihat

Kuala Lumpur: Air quality in Sarawak has improved, with only two locations recording severely unhealthy air pollution levels as of 9:30 AM today, according to the Sarawak Environment Department's IPU monitoring system. Kuching and Sri Aman reported IPU readings of 229 and 216 respectively. Ten other districts, including Serian declared a state of emergency last Friday, join the 35 nationwide sites that recorded unhealthy air quality levels.

Samalaju's IPU stands at 200, followed by Bintulu (199), Mukah (196), Samarahan (193), Sarikei (189), Miri Industrial Training Institute (183), Serian (183), Sibu (181), Miri (176) and Limbang (161). An additional 23 locations reported moderate air quality, while eight areas boasted good air quality. The IPU range from 0-50 indicates good air quality, 51-100 is moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy and above 300 hazardous.

The previous day, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, approved the declaration of a state of emergency in Serian after its IPU reading exceeded 500. Subsequently, the Sarawak Education Department (JPNS) announced the closure of 647 primary and secondary schools in the state from September 7 to 11, with home-based learning to be implemented throughout the five-day period.

Later, JPNS announced the closure of 54 primary and nine secondary schools under the jurisdiction of Bintulu and Tatau/Sebauh District Education Offices in Sarawak, effective from September 7 to 11, due to the poor air quality.