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

Kuching, September 19 — The air quality in Lubok Antu took a turn for the worse on Saturday, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) rising to 178 by 8am from 106 at 10pm the previous day. Nearby locations of Sri Aman, Lundu, and Tebedu also experienced increases in their API readings, which were 161, 157, and 119 at 8am respectively, all higher than their 10pm readings.

Kapit and Kanowit saw slight improvements in their air quality, with API readings decreasing to 126 and 186 by 8am from 153 and 200 at 10pm. Serian's API reading, on the other hand, increased by one point to 168 by 8am. Most air quality monitoring stations recorded slight declines in API readings, except for Bario, which entered the 'Moderate' zone with a reading of 60 by 8am.

Other locations such as Samalaju, Miri, ILP Miri, Limbang, and Lawas also recorded 'Moderate' air quality. Only Limbang experienced an increase in its API reading, rising from 59 to 64. Mukah's API reading of 139 at 10pm was classified as 'Unhealthy', but no latest data was available for it at 8am. An API reading between 101 and 200 is classified as 'Unhealthy', readings from 51 to 100 are categorized as 'Moderate', and 0 to 50 are considered 'Good'.