Schools in Johor, Malacca to close due to haze

The Education Ministry today issued circular informing schools in Johor, Terengganu and Kelantan to open as scheduled tomorrow after taking into consideration air pollution index (API) readings of below 200 as of 4pm this evening.

Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Sarawak continue to suffer unhealthy readings while Johor levels have dropped back to moderate levels.

The view from the 9th floor of Crown Towers as of 2pm today.

Meanwhile, according to Bernama, all flights involving the Kuching-Pontianak and Pontianak-Kuching sector have been cancelled until further notice, said Kuching global Airport (KIA) general manager Mohd Nadzim Hashim.

National Resources and Environment Ministry (NRE) had explained in an earlier statement on the confusions pertaining to the accuracy of the API reading on Sept 26.

On the Department of Environment’s website, the API reading for the three divisions as of 12pm were 137 (Kuching), 145 (Samarahan) and 190 (Sri Aman).

This, it pointed, is different from the measurement of visibility, which can be obtained and is based on a shorter period observation.

“However, the API readings picked up in the subsequent hours and reached the unhealthy level starting 5pm on the same day”, the department said.