KUCHING (Aug 31): Sarawak’s air quality deteriorated on Monday, with four areas recording hazardous air pollutant index (API) readings as of 9am, up from three areas on Sunday.

The Department of Environment’s Malaysian Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) portal showed that Sri Aman was the latest area to record a hazardous API reading.

The API reading at the Serian District Police Headquarters monitoring station reached 475, followed by Samarahan (334), Sri Aman (330) and Kuching (324).

Three areas recorded very unhealthy API readings, with Sarikei recording 271, followed by Sibu (219) and Mukah (214).

Unhealthy API readings were recorded in Samalaju (180), Miri (171), Miri Industrial Training Institute (ILP) (169), Kapit (164), Bintulu (161) and Limbang (159).

An API reading of zero to 50 indicates good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy and above 300 hazardous.

API figures are updated hourly based on readings from 68 monitoring stations nationwide.

Unhealthy API readings were also recorded in 14 areas across Penang, Kedah and Perak as of 9am on Monday.

According to the APIMS portal, Sungai Petani in Kedah recorded an API reading of 157, followed by Seberang Jaya (155) and Seberang Prai (154) in Penang, as well as Minden (152) and Taiping (141) in Perak.

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