KUCHING: Residents in the state capital, Samarahan and Sri Aman woke up to yet another day shrouded by haze, which also saw two outdoor events being called-off.
The highly anticipated “Stop The Stigma” run organised by Sarawak General Hospital cancelled one of its events after Kuching continued to record an ‘unhealthy’ Air Pollutant Index (API) reading.
The 4km and 12km runs to promote and raise awareness on mental health could not be carried out. However, other activities such as aerobics, free breakfast, health screenings and lucky draw proceeded as planned.
Also biting the dust was Kuching North City Hall’s “Kayuhan Berbasikal Maal Hijrah 2019” scheduled at 7am today.
The haze in Sarawak continued to be bad with two stations recording ‘very unhealthy’ and several others ‘unhealthy’ reading on the API.
Sri Aman recorded the highest API reading of 239 and Kuching 223 while the air quality in Saramahan has shown slight improvement with API 214 at 6am dropping to 200 at 1pm.
Three stations in the Miri district showed ‘unhealthy’ readings with ILP Miri at 142, Miri (156) and SK Kuala Baram (117).
Meanwhile, Sarikei, Sibu and Mukah also recorded ‘unhealthy’ readings at 180, 188 and 112, respectively.
An API reading of 0 to 50 is categorised as good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), and over 301 (hazardous).
Meanwhile Bernama reports that the haze has not disrupted flights at the Kuching International Airport.
A spokesperson at the airport’s information counter said as of 12 noon today, they had not been informed of any flights being cancelled.
“Everything is going on as normal,” he said, adding that in the event the haze worsens and leads to reduced visibility, there was likelihood that flights may be cancelled or postponed.