KUCHING – Any emergency declaration arising from the current haze situation in Sarawak would be limited to affected areas where the Air Pollution Index (API) reaches 500, rather than being imposed across the entire state.
Sarawak Deputy Premier and Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (JPBNS) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the approach was consistent with Malaysia’s guidelines for managing haze-related disasters.
He said JPBNS would notify the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) in Kuala Lumpur if an area recorded an API reading of 500, allowing further action to be considered under NADMA Directive No. 1.
The declaration, therefore, would be based on conditions in individual areas rather than a statewide assessment.
“If Serian, for example, reaches 500, that means we will inform Kuala Lumpur that the emergency needs to be enforced in that area only, not the whole of Sarawak,” Uggah said.
He was speaking during a press conference on the haze situation at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Kuching on August 31.
Uggah said an emergency declaration would have significant implications for activities in the affected area. Under such circumstances, government offices and private-sector workplaces would be closed, while schools would also be shut if they were located within the area covered by the declaration.
“Only essential services are allowed to operate,” he said.
The clarification comes as authorities continue to monitor air quality readings across Sarawak amid concerns over deteriorating haze conditions in some locations.
Uggah said JPBNS was maintaining surveillance of API readings throughout the state so that authorities could respond according to the severity of conditions in particular areas.
The monitoring process allows the authorities to distinguish between locations experiencing different levels of air pollution, rather than treating the entire state as being affected in the same way.
The API is used to indicate air quality conditions and the potential health implications associated with air pollution. A reading of 500 represents an extremely severe level at which emergency measures may be considered under the relevant disaster management arrangements.
Uggah also clarified that an emergency declaration should not be interpreted as an automatic restriction on residents’ movement.
He said the declaration would instead involve the closure of non-essential workplaces and institutions in the affected area, while essential services would continue operating.
The distinction is intended to make clear that an emergency declaration for haze would be geographically specific where the required threshold is reached.
For areas where API readings remain below the emergency threshold, authorities will continue monitoring conditions and determining appropriate measures based on the situation.
JPBNS is expected to continue tracking air quality readings across Sarawak as haze conditions develop. Any decision to activate an emergency would depend on the API level recorded in a particular area and the procedures set out under the national disaster management framework.
The state committee’s monitoring also enables authorities to respond to worsening conditions without automatically extending emergency measures to communities that have not reached the required level.
Uggah’s statement effectively ruled out the assumption that an API reading of 500 in one locality would automatically result in an emergency declaration covering the whole of Sarawak.
Instead, the response would be focused on the area where the threshold is reached, with JPBNS responsible for informing NADMA for the necessary follow-up action.
