Langkawi was one of 17 places in the country with air quality at an unhealthy level as at 11am today due to the haze caused by smoke from plantation land-clearing fires in Indonesia.

The Air Pollutant Index reading for Langkawi at 11am was 168, according to the portal of the Department of Environment.

The other 16 places were Bakar Arang in Sungai Petani (Kedah) with API readings of 102; Kuala Selangor (136); Port Klang (127); Shah Alam (117); Banting (Selangor) (108); Port Dickson (110); Malacca City and Bukit Rambai (Malacca) (110).

Pasir Gudang (127); Larkin Lama (113); Kota Tinggi (101), all in Johor; Universiti Sains Malaysia (110); Seberang Jaya 2, Perai, both in Penang (105); Seri Manjung (122) in Perak, Kangar (111) and Putrajaya (101).

Twenty-two places had API readings showing air quality at a moderate level, among them Petaling Jaya (99); Alor Setar (97); SK Jalan Pegoh, Ipoh (96); Nilai, Negri Sembilan (93) and Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (92).

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and 300 and above, hazardous.

The public can refer to the DOE portal at apims.doe.gov.my for the API readings in their areas.

All schools in peninsular Malaysia except in the state of Kelantan remained closed today for the second day due to the haze.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s air quality remains at an unhealthy level due to the haze.

As at 10am today, the 24-hour pollutants standard index (PSI) readings across the island were at the 141-183 range, between the middle and high-end of unhealthy category, while the three-hour PSI was 167, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

For today, NEA said the prevailing winds were forecast to blow from the east-north-east or east-south-east with a slight improvement.

- Bernama