JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 8 — The Johor Department of Environment (DoE) is actively patrolling across areas with the potential for open burning due to the haze affecting several districts in the state.
Its director, Dr Mohd Famey Yusoff, said the department deployed around 20 enforcement officers in the daily patrols, focusing on peatland areas.
“Patrols are carried out daily, especially in peatland areas such as in Muar and industrial areas in Pengerang and Pasir Gudang.
“This is because fires that occur in peatlands are difficult to extinguish and take a considerable amount of time to put out. Moreover, they release a large amount of smoke. Therefore, our patrols are primarily focused on areas like these,” he said when asked about the measures taken by the state DOE to mitigate the effects of the haze in the state.
According to Mohd Famey, a total of 395 cases of open burning were recorded in Johor between January and September.
He said most of these cases occurred in residential areas, where residents conducted small-scale burnings. As a result, immediate warning notices were issued to those involved to prevent such incidents from recurring.
He also said the department constantly monitors the Air Pollutant Index (API), as five locations recorded unhealthy air quality as of 10am today, namely in Segamat with an API reading of 155, Batu Pahat with reading of 163, Larkin with a reading of 157, Pasir Gudang with a reading of 152 and Tangkak with a reading of 155.
“However, the API readings in Johor are consistent and not increasing. As for now, the public is not required to wear face masks, and schools do not need to be closed since the readings are below 200.”
He advised the public to download the MyIPU application to stay updated with real-time API readings, which are updated every hour.
As of 3pm today, the API reading in Segamat was at 153, Batu Pahat was at 161, Larkin was at 152 and Tangkak was at 154, which were unhealthy, while Pasir Gudang was at 96 which was moderate.
— Bernama
