Residents in Sarikei and Sri Aman are praying for a windy and wet weather today after air quality in these two Sarawak towns yesterday sank to unhealthy levels with dry wind bringing haze from fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

However their prayers may only be fulfilled later this week as a spokesperson from the Sarawak Meteorological Department said air quality was only expected to recover later in the week following seasonal wet spells.

The air pollution index readings from the environment department showed that the two southern coastal areas in Sarawak, Sarikei and Sri Aman, registered readings of 119 and 113 respectively on Monday evening.

Unhealthy levels range between 101 and 200 on the pollution index.

Sarikei and the town of Sibu, also in southern Sarawak, saw readings of 107 and 104 respectively on Sunday.

Low visibility

"It is forecast that rain will fall this weekend. The weather is expected to improve further when the southwestern wind polarity becomes weaker this Thursday," the state meteorological department spokesperson was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

The Malaysian Meteorological Services said visibility in Sarawak's coastal towns was deteriorating because of the the haze.

Visibility was at 2.8 kilometres in the state capital Kuching, and three kilometres at Sri Aman and the town of Miri, according to Bernama .

Burning in Indonesia and some parts of Malaysia to clear land for crops causes an annual haze affecting the region. The fires are set mainly by plantation owners.