KUALA LUMPUR: In the northern Malaysia state of Penang air quality continues to drop, the country's environment department has reported, warning residents to be vigilant and cover their faces when heading outdoors. Visibility in Bayan Lepas dropped to only 6 kilometers yesterday from 8 kilometers on Thursday. The situation was the same in Prai and Butterworth where the visibility was 5 kilometers yesterday compared to 7 kilometers on Thursday. Normal visibility is above 10km. The air quality in Seberang Jaya has also worsened, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading spiking to 92 at 11 AM yesterday before dropping to 88 at 5 PM. The highest API reading there on Thursday was 82 at 5 PM. The new warnings over air standards come less than two months after the country was hit by a black cloud of poor air that saw the government tell residents in the country to remain indoors. The haze has been a major problem facing Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries in recent years. The main culprit of this haze is the slash and burn practice by farmers and peat fires in Indonesia, experts say. But also in Malaysia, the government is not doing enough to reform farming practices, which Yussif Hassan, an environmental consultant in Selangor told Bikyamasr.com, “is a major issue that is seeing haze become more prominent in recent times." He argued that “the Malaysia government must work to end the practices that throw debris and dust into the air, because if we don't do this soon, it will debilitate the environment and people's health." The first major crisis to hit the country was in 2005 in Port Klang, where the Air Pollution Index rose to above 500, a devastating and extremely dangerous level. Both Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta are, however, working together on new policies to end the problem, but Hassan says movement is too slow. “They need to move faster if this is to be solved, because although the recent problem was not terribly dangerous, it has the potential if nothing is done," he added.
