By Selangor Journal Team
SHAH ALAM, Oct 9 — Almost all of Selangor is shrouded in haze this morning, with only one location recording moderate reading.
As at 9am, Banting, Klang, Shah Alam, Johan Setia and Petaling Jaya saw unhealthy air quality recorded on the Air Pollutant Index (API), respectively with readings of 157, 154, 153, 152 and 137.
Only Kuala Selangor had a moderate API of 93.
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur recorded a reading of 157, while Putrajaya was at 105.
Three other locations nationwide recorded unhealthy API readings this morning, namely Bukit Rambai, Melaka (153), Nilai, Negeri Sembilan (152), and Batu Pahat, Johor (157).
Today’s readings mark a significant drop in air quality compared to the end of last week, when the majority of Malaysia showed significant improvement on the API.
Malaysia has blamed Indonesia for the ongoing haze, with Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad urging Jakarta to take immediate action to address the issue.
He recently said he had sent a letter to his Indonesian counterpart last week on the matter, reiterating that most of the hotspots indicating fires that have been causing the haze were in Indonesia.
Jakarta, however, denied that fires on Sumatra and Borneo islands are to be blamed for the haze in Malaysia.
Forest and peat fires are a perennial problem in Indonesia that caused tension among neighbouring countries which had to deal with transboundary haze.
Almost every year, smoke from the fires has blanketed parts of Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand.
