Haze: Melaka residents urged to avoid open burning

MELAKA - The public is reminded not to conduct open burning to prevent the haze situation in the state from getting worse.

Melaka Department of Environment (DoE) director Rosli Mustafa said several areas in the state recorded unhealthy Air Pollution Index (API) readings at 1am today, with Bukit Rambai being the most affected followed by Melaka City.

"The Melaka DoE will conduct patrols to prevent open burning. We have also implemented air pollution emission controls and will continue to do so until the situation improves.

"These measures are essential to our efforts to control pollution from local sources,” he told reporters.

Rosli said he believed that cross-border factors contributed to the haze that is currently affecting the state.

Earlier, Bernama reported that five areas recorded unhealthy API readings as of 9 am today, with Bukit Rambai in Melaka being the most affected area with an API reading of 153.

Based on the Malaysian API Management System (APIMS) website operated by the Department of Environment (DOE), other areas with API of above 100 are Melaka City (146), Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan (109) and Batu Pahat (134) as well as Tangkak ( 116) in Johor.

An API reading of zero to 50 indicates that the air quality is good; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and above 300, hazardous. - BERNAMA