KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) and the Sarawak government will provide an allocation for face masks to be distributed to Kuching residents, currently hit by the haze.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in a statement today said Nadma would continue to monitor the situation in the affected areas.

She said the Malaysian Meteorological Department was also looking into conducting cloud seeding operations taking into account the atmospheric conditions in the areas.

"The people especially those in Sarawak are advised to stay indoors and to wear face masks when out in the open, to avoid health problems,” she said.

As at 10am today, the haze in Sarawak had worsened as several areas registered a hike in Air Pollution Index (API) readings with Kuching recording very unhealthy API of 206.

Citing a report from the Department of Environment, Dr Wan Azizah said the major factor contributing to the high API readings after 455 hot spots were detected, was the forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia.

She said the wind patterns had spread some of the haze across to Malaysia especially to Sarawak.

"The peat bush fire incident in Kuala Baram, Miri had also resulted in the haze,” she said  adding that firefighters were still putting out fires in the area. — Bernama