Stay indoors or wear N95 masks if going out, Serian residents told

PETALING JAYA: Residents of Serian have been advised to stay at home following the declaration of a state of emergency because of hazardous levels of air pollution from smoke haze.

The people should refrain from outdoor activities, and wear suitable face masks, particularly N95 masks or equivalent, to reduce exposure to the smoke haze, should they need to go out, said Sarawak deputy premier Douglas Uggah Embas who chairs the state disaster management committee.

He urged Serian residents not to panic. The state of emergency was not a lockdown, as experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic and only certain workplaces in the affected area would be required to close, while essential services would continue operating.

The emergency area would be confined to a 20km radius in Serian as identified by the environment department, and would not affect other divisions, Dayak Daily quoted him as saying.

He said that under the national haze action plan, government and private offices and other workplaces within the affected area, including industries, plantations, construction sites and quarries, are required to close, while essential services will remain available.

Details on the activities allowed to operate during the state of emergency would be issued by the authorities in accordance with directives from the National Disaster Management Agency, he said.

Earlier today, the state education department said 563 primary schools and 84 secondary schools could be closed for five days from Sept 7 following the declaration of a state of emergency in Serian by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim after days of air pollution levels reaching hazardous levels in the district.

The Asean haze monitoring centre said moderate to dense smoke haze was observed to drift northeast from Kalimantan into parts of Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Moderate to dense smoke plumes were observed in North and East Kalimantan, as well as the central and southern parts of Sumatra.

The Sarawak public works department (JKR) has ordered an immediate halt to all construction works being carried out for JKR projects in Serian. The directive would remain in force throughout the period of the state of emergency. Contractors, consultants and other parties involved were urged to comply with the directive.

Moderate smoke haze was also observed in Singapore, the southern parts of Peninsular Malaysia and the eastern parts of Java.

In a 6.12pm report, the centre said many air quality stations in Borneo are reporting unhealthy to hazardous levels, while some air quality stations in Sumatra, Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia are reporting unhealthy levels.