Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, in a statement last night, said the situation was aggravated by the hot and dry weather, causing the air pollutants to float in the air.

“Currently, there is no influence of trans-boundary haze because the country is still in the inter-monsoon season that is expected to last until mid-May.

“The fires are being doused by the Fire and Rescue Department, and they are under control,” he said.

In the meantime, Wan Junaidi said as at 3pm yesterday, several areas around the Klang Valley recorded unhealthy levels of Air Pollutant Index (API) due to ground-level ozone pollution.

Wan Junaidi said the sweltering weather conditions and an increase in nitrogen dioxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) has contributed to the rise in the API.

He said based on a report by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD), as of Wednesday, Klang and Kuala Selangor had no rainfall for eight consecutive days.

MMD’s website, as at 9 pm last night, showed that the APIs in several areas, hit by the haze in the afternoon, had returned to moderate levels.

Among the areas affected were Shah Alam (API reading from 122 to 86, Batu Muda (106 to 77), Cheras (131 to 78) and Petaling Jaya (103 to 73).

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 and 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and 300 and above (hazardous).

The public can refer to the portal http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/ for the latest API readings.

– BERNAMA