Lubok Antu haze worsens as API climbs to 178 in eight hours

KUCHING, Sept 19 — The air quality in Lubok Antu worsened significantly over the course of a few hours on Saturday, with its Air Pollutant Index (API) soaring to 178 by 8am, up from 106 at 10pm the previous day. Three nearby locations, Sri Aman, Lundu and Tebedu, also experienced increases in their API readings, moving from 161, 157 and 119 to 165, 161 and 119 respectively by 8am.

Kapit and Kanowit saw a slight improvement, with their API readings decreasing from 153 and 200 to 126 and 186. Serian's API rose by one point to 168. Most monitoring stations reported slight declines in API levels, with Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu, Sarikei and Bintulu all dropping to 168, 163, 160, 152 and 151 respectively. Bario's air quality took a turn for the worse, entering the 'Moderate' zone with an API of 60, compared to a 'Good' rating of 29 at 10pm.

Other areas classified as having 'Moderate' air quality included Samalaju, Miri, ILP Miri, Limbang and Lawas, with Limbang being the sole location to see an increase in its API, rising from 59 to 64. Mukah's API remained 'Unhealthy' at 139 at 10pm with no subsequent update provided. An API score between 101 and 200 is deemed 'Unhealthy', 51 to 100 is categorized as 'Moderate', and 0 to 50 is deemed 'Good'.