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KUCHING - The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, has consented to a declaration of emergency throughout Serian Division, Sarawak, after haze conditions reached a level of air pollution hazardous to public health and safety, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement today.
The decision was made after taking into account advice from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, as well as relevant agencies, on air quality in the affected area.
"More effective measures will be taken to protect the health and welfare of affected residents," the statement read.
The Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Serian stood at 519 on Friday morning, data showed, well past the threshold of 500 at which an emergency may be declared. A haze emergency was last declared in Kuching in September 1997, when an API reading of 650 was recorded.
Anwar had earlier said further action, including the possibility of declaring a disaster emergency, would be discussed with the Sarawak government, after he contacted Abang Johari on Thursday to discuss the matter.
He said the government would take all necessary measures, including cloud seeding, even though the haze was caused by developments elsewhere.
Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who chairs the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee, had earlier said a state of emergency would be declared if offices and both public and private sectors in affected areas would be closed, with only essential services allowed to operate.
Earlier today, MET Sarawak personnel loaded tanks of saline solution onto a Royal Malaysian Air Force C130 aircraft at RMAF Base Kuching to carry out a cloud seeding operation, as authorities stepped up efforts to induce rainfall over the haze-hit areas.
