Malaysia lifts emergency declaration in Sarawak district as fire haze eases, yet air quality still poor

Malaysia has lifted an emergency declaration over fire haze in the district of Serian in Sarawak state as air quality readings fell back below hazardous levels but health hazards persist, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.

Malaysia declared the emergency on Friday after the heavy haze from fires in the Indonesian side of Borneo island drove air quality to hazardous levels. Sarawak has been badly hit by fires in Indonesia’s Kalimantan state, with smog forcing schools to close in areas of the state.

Malaysian authorities consider API values exceeding 300 as harmful and 500 as the threshold for declaring an emergency.
According to data from the environment department, the API in Serian was 222 on Monday, after touching 519 on Friday.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said the King, Sultan Ibrahim, had agreed to lift the state of emergency following advice from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg and reports from government agencies that air quality readings in Serian were no longer at hazardous levels.

The PMO said the haze situation has yet to improve and air quality readings in numerous places, including Serian and Samarahan districts, are at very harmful levels. ““The Federal government and Sarawak state government will continue to closely monitor the situation and residents in the affected areas are advised to limit outdoor activities and always comply with the instructions from the authorities,” it stated.