The haze blanketing the country at the moment is expected to start abating from next Tuesday (Oct 6) to Friday following a change in wind direction, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Madius Tangau.

Nonetheless, he said the haze would return on Saturday following a tropical storm forecasted to form in eastern Philippine and if the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan were not put off by then.

"Initially the MetMalaysia (Malaysian Meteorological Department) forecasted the heavy smoke which hit the country since mid-September to end in early October following the inter-monsoon period, but the formation of several tropical storms in the waters of Philippines have drawn winds to steadily blow from the southwest again.

"The situation will cause cross border haze to return to Malaysia," he said in a statement today.

Madius said the tropical storm called Mujigae formed on Oct 1 had caused winds to return blowing from the southwest.

As at 6pm today, 24 areas were still recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings compared to 13 areas at noon.

According to the Department of Environment portal, two areas in Negri Sembilan recorded the highest API readings, namely Seremban (172) and Nilai (171), while Shah Alam in Selangor and Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur also recorded API reading of 171.

- Bernama