No Immediate Respite Fro Haze
By Khairunnisa Ibrhahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - The region's worries over the deteriorating haze condition continue, with disruptions in transport, economic activity and daily routines in Brunei's-neighbouring countries.

The gloomy days in Brunei, brought forth by overcast weather and the 'ever-present haze, are riot expected to improve anytime soon.

Air levels in Kuala Lumpur entered the unhealthy range yesterday as smoke' from neighbouring Indonesia swept, into the city.

Only three out of 51 air quality monitoring stations in Malaysia registered clean air, while 14 recorded unhealthy air quality.

Singapore also experienced worsened air quality last Thursday as the wind direction brought in haze from fires in Southern Sumatra. Visibility was reduced from 10 kilometres to below 3. Indonesia's haze has even reached southern Thailand.

In nearby Sarawak, eight areas registered an unhealthy level of air quality last Thursdays with the worst level recorded at 178 in Sarikei.

Visibility in the worst-affected areas in Sarawak ranged between 500 metres and 6 kilometres.

The poor visibility also affected flights, grounding helicopter services, a main mode of transport in Sarawak, said an official from Kuching's Department of Civil Aviation. It also diverted several flights.

In an effort to improve, the situation, Malaysian authorities have ordered cloud seeding operations to induce rain which is hoped will clear the air in several towns in Sarawak. Such operations did induce rain in Miri and Mukah last Wednesday.

Dry weather persisted in Kuching, however, with smoke haze reducing visibility to 200 metres.

The situation was not as severe in Brunei. According to the duty forecaster at the Brunei Meteorological Service, the combination of rain and smoke haze reduced visibility to 1.5 kilometres yesterday, but once the rains arrived, visibility improved to 4 kilometres.

The low level southwesterly winds still prevail over the region, thus continuing to transport smoke particles from Kalimantan. Furthermore, with the ongoing drought in southwestern Borneo, the haze is likely to persist in the next few days, said the duty forecaster.

The latest haze map provided by Singapore's Meteorological Services Division showed much of Kalimantan covered by moderate smoke last Thursday. Occasional showers are expected over the next few days, but not as much as the previous showers that were influenced by the tropical storm Bebinca. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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