Minister: Haze will be worse this year as plantation, industrial activities return to normal after Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The haze occurrence in the country is expected to be worse this year compared to the last three years since plantation and industrial activities have returned to normal operations.

Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the haze problem was under control during the Covid-19 pandemic period as not many farms and factories were fully opened, Utusan Malaysia reported today.

According to the minister, NRECC has made preliminary preparations to deal with the possibility of haze due to the current hot weather in the country.

He said that the precautionary measures were taken after several areas showed that the Air Pollution Index (API) reading was at an unhealthy level.

“Actually, we already have a system in place to prepare for the haze, but in the past two or three years, we saw that the problem of burning and so on from plantation and industrial activities had reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Now the situation is back to normal, so we are ready to face the phenomenon,” he told reporters after attending a Ramadan Iftar event in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.

Nik Nazmi said there will be increased monitoring in sensitive areas such as peatland, flammable areas and locations where open burning often occurs.

He added that NRECC also held a meeting with several related agencies to deal with the haze issue.

“The preparation will involve the fire and rescue department in ensuring that fires can be controlled and extinguished immediately to prevent the haze from getting worse,” he said.

Yesterday there were reports that showed two areas recording air quality status readings at unhealthy levels in Segamat, Johor and Tanah Merah, Kelantan.

The Director General of Environment Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar reportedly said the API recorded in Segamat was 139 while Tanah Merah was 109 as of 2pm yesterday.

API readings between 0 to 50 are categorised as good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), while 300 and above are dangerous.