Deputy Premier Uggah says cloud seeding at Batang Ai, Murum and Bakun aims to raise water levels and ease haze, but hotspots persist in Indonesia.
KUCHING: A cloud-seeding operation targeting key dams and water catchment areas in Sarawak will be carried out from today until Sept 5, said Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said the operation would be subject to the availability of suitable clouds and favourable atmospheric conditions.
“Our target today is first the Batang Ai hydroelectric plant area. After that, the team will move to Murum and Bakun, where they will assess the cloud conditions in these areas.
“We are also targeting 13 water catchment areas in Sarawak. The purpose is to increase the amount of water in these areas,” he told reporters after attending a briefing on the operation here today.
The operation involves, among others, the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
Uggah said the cloud-seeding operation would also focus on helping to reduce haze affecting several areas in the state.
“We hope the rainfall will help us reduce the haze. That is another objective, but we cannot promise the haze will disappear because we must not forget where the source of the haze comes from.
“We hope that they (Indonesia) will continue to do their best to reduce the number of hotspots there. If the number of hotspots there is reduced, then the haze will also decrease because the number of hotspots here in Sarawak is very low,” he said.
