A haze in Sarawak caused by forest and ground fires from neighbouring Indonesia has improved, but two districts continue to post unhealthy levels, a senior official said today.

"Two stations in Sarawak Kapit and Samarahan posted unhealthy readings," Lee Heng Keng, control director of the department of environment told AFP .

He said the air quality in four other monitoring stations Kuching, Sarikei, Sri Aman and Petra Jaya now showed moderate readings. These stations posted unhealthy readings yesterday.

An early downpour helped clear the haze, a department official in Kuching told AFP . But he warned that it was only temporary since the forest fire in Indonesia's West Kalimantan has not been put off.

"The haze is from forest fires burning out of control in Kalimantan. If the fire is not put out, the haze will return. I think it is only a temporary reprieve, thanks to to Mother Earth's intervention," he said.

The official said some motorists in Sarawak's capital have put on face masks to protect themselves from the choking air.