Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has advised school administrations to temporarily suspend classes as the Department of Environment's air pollution readings in some parts of the country had reached dangerous levels. 

"In schools, if it is at dangerous level, school administrations can decide to close the schools temporarily, though teachers are still expected to work. They, however, would not be required to go to school until the situation improves.

muhyiddin pc 200910 02 "Based on the National Haze Action Plan, API levels between 400 to 500 are considered dangerous, as what is being experienced in Muar," said Muhyiddin, who is also education minister.

"The government has taken steps to manage the situation, the first being activating the central disaster relief and management committee managed by the national security council, and also activating all committees and machineries at state and district levels."

Muhyiddin was speaking after reports emerged that the Muar district education office in Johor had directed all schools within its jurisdiction to cancel their outdoor activities due to the worsening air conditions in the area.

azlan This follows the worsening by late morning of air conditions in the district to 432 on the Department of Environment’s (DoE) air pollutant index (API).

By 5pm today, however, the situation had improved slightly with API readings measuring 311 in Muar.  

While API readings between 0 - 50 are considered ‘good’, areas that measure between 51 - 100 are ‘unhealthy’. Readings of 101 - 200 and 201 - 300 are classified as ‘unhealthy’ and ‘very unhealthy’, respectively.

Readings of more than 301 are deemed hazardous to the health.

10,000 masked sent

"We have decided to encourage the use of masks. The DoE has sent 10,000 masks to Muar today and will be used especially in schools. We have 204 schools there," said Muhyiddin.

"This first batch will be for students, and we will send a few more batches for residents in Muar to wear. We have asked district officer to launch mask use tomorrow.

"We will also send supply of mineral water to encourage residents to drink clean water over the period of the haze," he added.

Muhyiddin also said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Ugah Embas had contacted his counterpart in Indonesia over cooperation in managing the recurrent problem.

"We will assist in whatever logistic help to manage the problem," he said.

The Meteorological Department, meanwhile, will carry out cloud seeding towards alleviating the problem, Muhyiddin added.

"In Muar, there are 44 students taking Sijil Tinggi Agama, (but) we do not expect the haze to affect their exams."

Other places in Johor recorded moderate API readings, according to the environment department.

While not suffering to the extent of Muar, Malacca has also been  badly hit by the deterioration of air conditions compared to other states.

Declining air quality has also been reported in Negeri Sembilan and Selangor in the past few days. Kuala Lumpur measured 63 in Batu Muda and 60 in Cheras at 11am today.

API readings in the state’s Malacca City, on the other hand, measured 111 - just above ‘unhealthy’ - while Bukit Rambai measured 95.

The API reading for Malacca had gradually worsened over the past three days from 51 to 90, with Muar recorded a reading of 162 yesterday afternoon.

Visibility in the state, according to the MET, had yesterday dropped to 2km and 5km.

Satellite image of haze

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