Already hit by a three-week or so dry weather,Sarawak is now facing the distinct threat of forest fires from allegedly unscrupulous farmers as well bad apples from the forest industry while the peninsula enjoys a respite from the haze.

This is in addition to the worse than average haze shrouding the state fuelled by local peat fires allegedly caused by these farmers and the irresponsible culprits in the forest industry.

The drought has has prompted the state government to start cloud seeding operations to generate rain and start emergency distribution of water to affected divisions (districts).

According to a Fire Weather Indices (FWI) advisory issued by the Fire Management Unit of Sarawak's Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) to the Sarawak Timber Association on 7 Aug, five areas are now classified as having ‘extremely high fire hazard'.

Kuching (15), Sri Aman (14), Sibu (20), Bintulu (25) and Miri( 22) have all been classified to have ‘extremely high fire hazard' with strict instructions for a total ban on burning.

FWI readings are interpreted as low fire hazard from 0 - 1.0, moderate fire hazard from 2.0 to 6.0, high fire hazard between 7.0 and 13.0. Anything above 13.0 is classified as extremely high fire hazard.

sarawak haze motorcyclist 051006 Compiled from a string of meteorological stations throughout the state, FWI measures the likelihood and possible hazard of fires.

The advisory is also addressed to Sarawak's minister of environment & public health, the assistant to said state minister, chairman State Disaster Relief Committee, resident offices and state fire department headquarters.

The advisory noted that the above information is for the parties to take "necessary action."

As the threat of more forest fires looms, existing local peat fires in Sarawak continue to fuel the worse-than-average haze over Sarawakian skies.

Haze lifting over Malaysia

Meanwhile, the rest of Malaysia is experiencing clearer skies as the haze appears to have retreated from most areas.

As of today's 11am reading, the majority of areas are recording Air Pollutant Index (API) in the low 50s and lower.

The exceptions are Miri (71), Samarahan (63), Kuala Selangor (71), Port Klang (70), Nilai (62), Cheras (62), Shah Alam (62) and Kota Tinggi (60).

Fifty six percent or 28 of the areas are classified as ‘good' with Langkawi, Limbang and Sandakan having the best air quality of 23, 26 and 29 respectively.

The API classification is as follows: 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 300 and above (hazardous).