All clear, says haze watcher

comments     Yap Mun Ching     Published     Updated

The Department of Environment said today that the haze that has enveloped Kuala Lumpur since last week is now cleared.

Our readings say that there is no haze in the city anymore, DoEs director-general Rosnani Ibarahim told malaysiakini .

However, Rosnani said that the department would not be releasing the Air Pollution Index as the haze problem is no longer apparent in the city.

The haze which affected Kuala Lumpur was largely due to uncontrolled peat fires at the 3,100ha Paya Indah Wetlands sanctuary. It was also aggravated by drought conditions in the country.

According to a report in The Star today, firefighers managed to put out more than 80 percent of the wetlands peat fires yesterday.

However, Kuala Langat district officer Hassan Mohd Amin was also quoted as saying there is still smoke and haze around the area as certain sections are still smouldering.

The officer estimated that once the fires are totally put out, it would take another few days before the smoke and haze clear out.

No flights affected

Meanwhile, another report in the daily said that ships plying the Straits of Malacca have been warned to navigate with care to avoid collisions following the return of the haze, which has caused visibility to drop to less than two nautical miles.

Muar marine police deputy chief Insp Ghazali Haron was reported as saying that this haze is believed to be due to fires in Indonesia which was first spotted over the straits about three days ago.

When contacted today, Malaysia Airlines media relations controller Jacqui Christie said no flights from the national career have been affected by the hazy conditions.

There have been no cancellations or diversions, said Christie, adding that flight service normally can operate with minimum visibility of 800m.

However, a Singapore Airlines flight from Medan to Singapore last Friday was diverted to Penang due to poor visibility conditions over the Malacca straits.

Meanwhile, the meteorological department was unavailable for comment on when the dry season is expected to end.



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