PUTRAJAYA : The Department of Environment (DOE) will enhance its air pollutant index (API) monitoring by upgrading the equipment used to measure pollutants.
Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Hamim Samuri said new equipment to be used at all 52 of its API monitoring stations nationwide will cost RM6.24 million.
It will cost the government RM840,000 annually to operate the equipment, which is expected to be made available by 2017.
The equipment will enhance monitoring of the API levels by including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the measurement of air quality.
Speaking at a press conference at Wisma Sumber Asli, here, today, Hamim said only 12 of the 52 API reading stations can measure the PM2.5 component.
This was the reason the API readings in Malaysia is said to be lower than in neighbouring countries even though the haze was evidently bad.
New Straits Time had recently reported that Malaysia’s measurement of air pollution was different from Singapore’s which include PM2.6 as the sixth parameter in determining the state of air quality.
DoE director-general Datuk Halimah Hassan said Malaysia measures five parameters to determine API which consist of carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide and particulate matter (PM10).
Since April last year, Singapore has used PM2.5 when calculating its measurement of air quality, called Pollutant Standards Index (PSI).
The issues were raised by people who noticed the stark difference in air pollution readings between Malaysia, especially in southern Johor, and Singapore as choking haze blanketed the two countries.
"Generally, the API reading based on PM2.5 parameter will provide higher count reading compared to API which is based on PM10. Despite the differences, the reading scale of good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous is still the same for both PM2.5 and PM10," Halimah was quoted as saying.