Hazy Days

Yep, its the haze again, courtesy of Indonesia and several local "hotspots". Following up from my previous post on August 2, the haze has gotten much, much worse since then.

The API, only released today by the Department of Environment today despite being the fourth day of this haze, is as follows (as of 5pm today):

0-50 Baik / Good - 3 areas
51-100 Sederhana / Moderate - 35 areas
101-200 Tidak Sihat / Unhealthy - 5 areas
201-300 Sangat Tidak Sihat / Very Unhealthy - 2 areas
>301 Berbahaya / Hazardous - 6 areas

Worst affected areas are:

Gombak, SELANGOR - 305*
Pelabuhan Kelang, SELANGOR - 486*
Petaling Jaya, SELANGOR - 326*
Shah Alam, SELANGOR - 430*
Kuala Selangor, SELANGOR - 527*
Kuala Lumpur, W.PERSEKUTUAN - 295*
Putrajaya, W.PERSEKUTUAN - 354*

Currently in PJ, the haze is pretty damn bad. The acrid smell of smoke-saturated air pervades every corner, except in air-conditioned buildings (for the time being). Hell, you walk out in the open for just 5 minutes and you'll smell like smoke when you get indoors!



Pharmacies are doing brisk business selling surgical masks, some selling them for over RM12 apiece and many opportunists have stocked up on masks and are selling them to people for a profit. The authorities should put a price ceiling on these items.

Schools have been allowed to close due to the severity of the haze, and even the port at Port Klang as well as the Sultan Aziz Shah has been forced to cease operations due to terrible visibility.

One can only imagine how many precious hectares of forest is being destroyed by these almost-annual forest fires by our oh so gracious neighbours who are "kind" enough to share their smoke with us. It has been reported in the news that increasing numbers of respiratory and eye cases have been reported in medical centres across the affected areas.

Source -
Malaysian Department of Environment