Published: Monday June 18, 2012 MYT 11:39:00 AM

Selangor records better air quality as haze clears

By REGINA LEE

PETALING JAYA: The haze in Selangor over the past week has cleared up significantly, with no more areas recording unhealthy air quality.

According to the Department of Environment's (DOE) Air Pollutant Index (API), there were zero areas with a reading of more than 100 as of 7am Monday.

Port Klang, which was consistently recorded with the highest API in the past four days with numbers close to 150, is now recorded with an API of 80.

Other areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur also registered readings of between 60 and 70.

However, stations in Sitiawan, Sungai Petani and Tanah Merah were still on the brink of unhealthy levels, with readings of 94 and 93.

The NOAA-18 satellite images operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also still showed 163 hotspots in Sumatra as of Monday morning.

It was reported that the haze was the result of peat and forest fires in the Riau district in central Sumatera and may be prolonged because of the drought there which may last until July.

More News