Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's air quality was hit by transboundary haze stemming from forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan, with several Department of Environment (DOE) monitoring stations recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) levels as of 5pm on Thursday.
According to Sabah DOE Director Nor Rashidah Mohd Ghazali, stations recording unhealthy levels included Kota Kinabalu (156), Politeknik (156), Kimanis (155), and Keningau (154), while Sandakan (93) recorded moderate air quality.
Winds are believed to have carried dense smoke from Kalimantan across the Borneo region into Sabah, with satellite imagery from the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) detecting 780 active hotspots in Kalimantan and 142 in Sumatra on Wednesday, whilst none were detected in Sabah.
Patrols conducted by the DOE alongside reports from the Sabah Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) on Thursday confirmed no major fire incidents in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Papar, Beaufort, Sandakan, or Tawau.
Reminding the public that open burning is punishable under Section 29(A) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 by fines of up to RM1 million, five years' imprisonment, or both, Nor Rashidah noted that 502 open burning prevention patrols have been conducted across the State so far amid the hot and dry weather.
