PUTRAJAYA: THE Natural Resources and Environ ment Ministry said the current hot and dry spell since May following the south-west monsoon, is expected to last un til September.
Its minister, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, said the hot and dry spell and the El Nino impact wouldwill result in open fires.
He said based on the Asean Specialised Meteorological (ASMC) report, there were 133 hot spots in Sumatra and 32 in Kali mantan, Indonesia, respectively.
He said in a statement yesterday that the ASMC report had also shown satellite images with haze traces at open fire areas in Riau and West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
“The satellite images also show that there is moderate haze movement towards the centre of west coast in the peninsula.”," Palanivel said.
He added that 11 hot spots had been de tected in the country: , mainly in Sarawak (four); Pa hang (two); Kelantan (two); Selangor (one); Negri Sembilan (one) and Johor (one).
“The hot spots in the country will be investigated and ne cessary enforcement actions will be taken.”
As of 2pm yesterday, the Air Pollution In dex (API) showed nine places with unhealthy readings: Samarahan, Sarawak (106); Sibu, Sarawak (155); Sri Aman, Sarawak (105); Banting, Selangor (124); Port Klang, Selangor (113); Petaling Jaya, Selangor (105); Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (134); Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (123) and Putrajaya (120).
He also said that the ministry had activated the ac tion plan to prevent open burning in the country since Feb ruary in a bid to tackle the hot and dry season brought by the monsoon and El Nino phe nomenon.
Among oOther actions the ministry had taken to address the issue was to monitor peat fires, aside from enforcing the open burning pro hibition order in states such as Selangor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Putra jaya.
Palanivel said under the order, which was activated in March, the public was prohibited from con ducting open burning, with the exception of religious activities, cremations or barbe cues.
He said the Department of Environment (DOE) had detected 4,408 open burning in the country from January to July 28, and 315 cases had been compounded and 101 cases received warning notices.
It was also learnt that 45 open burning cases in the country would be referred for further action. Fourteen of them had been referred to the deputy public prosecutor and five cases would be prosecuted in the Sessions Court.
Meanwhile in Kuching the long dry spell has created haze in several areas. Among the areas badly hit was Sibu with the Air Pollutant Index reaching unhealthy level of 165 at noon.
"On Monday the situation here was even worse. It was white all over and visibility was poor," said 46-year-old local resident Ramli Bolhassan.
Ramli said the poor weather condition had dampened Hari Raya festivities and many were not going outdoors.
Ramli believed that the poor air condition was also due to open burning activities at nearby oil palm plantation.
"I was told by my relatives that several plantations in nearby districts such as Mukah and Sarikei are also doing open burning. This might be one of the contributing factors for the poor air condition," he said.
On Monday, Sibu's API reached 261 which was Very Unhealthy level. Samarahan and Sri Aman also experienced poor air quality yesterday with both areas recording an API of 106.