The Department of Enivornment (DOE) today said that Malaysia was clear of the haze which made a return yesterday after several weeks of respite.

"No haze today," DOE director-general Rosnani Ibrahim told malaysiakini .

According to her, the smog which choked Kuala Selangor yesterday was temporary and the situation has resumed to normal.

The Air Pollution Index (API) in Kuala Selangor yesterday was at 108, which is deemed unhealthy .

Rosnani said the haze had returned due to the open burning activities in Indonesia.

The latest API at 11am today showed that no area is in the 'unhealthy' level. Out of 51 areas indicated, 15 were in 'good' condition and the rest were 'moderate'. The API of Putrajaya was not available due to technical problem.

The highest API was recorded in Kuala Selangor, 90, and followed by Port

Klang 84 and Nilai 81.

Checks on open burning

On the issuance of API readings, she said twice a day was sufficient and there was no need to increase this.

"Two times in one day is enough because API is the average value over the past 24 hours," she added.

Currently, DOE releases the readings on their website at 11am and 5pm.

The department's operations room told malaysiakini that it is monitoring the haze situation and regular patrols are being carried out to check on cases of open burnings.

Apart from Kuala Selangor, Gombak's API reading was at 104, which is also deemed unhealthy.

Last month, the haze enveloped several states and the air quality had reached hazardous levels (API reading 300 or more) in Port Klang and Kuala Selangor, prompting the government to declare an emergency.