Kuantan gets respite from haze after downpour, air quality remains mixed

KUANTAN: Heavy rain in the state capital today brought some relief after weeks of prolonged haze that had caused unhealthy air quality.

Kuantan had experienced severe haze over the past week, with Air Pollutant Index (API) readings remaining at unhealthy levels as air quality deteriorated across the country.

At 10am, the API reading at Balok Baru here improved to 80, placing it in the moderate category, compared with 155 under the unhealthy category yesterday.

The Indera Mahkota air quality monitoring station here continued to record unhealthy air quality, although its API reading fell slightly to 151 today from 165 earlier this week.

Temerloh was the worst-affected district in Pahang, with API readings of 156 followed by Jerantut(152) and Rompin(151). Pahang has five API monitoring stations.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is classified as good, 51 to 100 as moderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy, 201 to 300 as very unhealthy and above 300 as hazardous.

Meanwhile, schools in Kuantan, Pekan and Rompin reopened today after a two-day closure due to worsening haze conditions.

In a Facebook post, the Pahang Education Department said all outdoor activities had been postponed and encouraged students attending school to wear face masks.

Last month, the Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah decreed that mosques statewide perform solat hajat (special prayers) and solat sunat Istisqa' (prayers for rain) to seek divine intervention for rainfall and relief from the haze.

The haze has reportedly been linked to seasonal forest and peatland fires in Indonesia, particularly in Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo.