Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s air quality deteriorated on Sunday due to transboundary haze from Kalimantan and a local squatter settlement fire, according to Sabah Environment Department director Nor Rashidah Mohd Ghazali.
As of 5pm, one air monitoring station registered an unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 142 after surpassing the 100 mark at noon, while Kota Kinabalu (97), Kimanis (95), Keningau (93), Tawau (79), and Sandakan (78) remained at moderate levels.
Nor Rashidah said thick smoke from forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan was blown across Borneo into Sabah, with the Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) detecting 1,107 hotspots in the Indonesian region on 29 August.
She noted that an early morning fire that destroyed 202 water squatter houses at Kampung Numbak here also contributed to the localised decline in air quality, with satellite imagery picking up two hotspots at the location.
Meanwhile, two bushfire hotspots identified in Tuaran and Kota Belud on Saturday have been fully extinguished, with no other major fire incidents reported across the state capital.
The Department has carried out 474 patrols under its Open Burning Prevention Operation (OMPT) to date and is stepping up daily enforcement and API surveillance amid the hot and dry weather.
Nor Rashidah reminded landowners and the public that open burning is an offence under Section 29A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, punishable by fines between RM25,000 and RM1 million, up to five years' imprisonment, or both upon conviction.
