KOTA KINABALU, March 28 — The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) is conducting a three-day cloud seeding operation (OPA) in the three drought-hit districts of Papar, Lahad Datu and Tawau beginning today.

Its director-general, Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said the operation was implemented to obtain sufficient water resources in the rain catchment areas due to the hot weather.

"The drought from February has caused a total of 58,080 heads of households (KIR) from 355 villages in 12 districts in Sabah to face water problems...and the impact of this heat and dryness also caused forest and bush fires in Sabah.

"It is hoped this cloud seeding effort can help to increase the water capacity of the rain catchment areas and further guarantee that water supply can be channelled to users without any disruptions,” he said in a statement here today.

The OPA was implemented with the cooperation of the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and Labuan Water Department. The RMAF’s C-130 Hercules aircraft took off from Labuan and carried four water tanks containing a mixture of 800 kilogrammes of salt in addition to 6,000 litres of water provided by MetMalaysia.

Meanwhile, Khairul Shahril said state governments needing assistance to carry out cloud seeding operations should submit a proposal to Nadma for evaluation because the suitability of the location and forecast of the atmospheric conditions in the proposed areas need to be studied first by MetMalaysia to ensure the success of the OPA.

"The success of the OPA depends on suitable atmospheric conditions such as as high humidity, the presence of cumulus clouds and weak wind speed...factors like these which will enable the production of accurate rainfall in the targeted areas,” he said.

He also reminded the public to refer to the latest information from authentic sources, for example if related to the weather, the public can download the myCuaca application from MetMalaysia on Google Play or the App Store.

He said those who are at risk of heatstroke are advised to limit outdoor activities as well as to stay hydrated, in addition to taking the necessary preventive measures and checking with the information issued by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in order to stay healthy during the hot weather.

He also reminded the community not to do open burning, especially on peat lands to avoid air pollution or haze. — Bernama