KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia closed schools on Friday in its capital and several states as smoke from forest fires in Indonesia pushed air pollution to unhealthy levels across the region, Al Jazeera and DW reported.
Schools were ordered shut in Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya and the states of Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Selangor, affecting roughly two million students, as Kuala Lumpur recorded an Air Pollutant Index reading of about 170. King Sultan Ibrahim said schools should close whenever the index reaches 150; under Malaysian guidelines, readings above 100 are unhealthy and above 200 very unhealthy. “Going forward, we will ensure that any decision to close schools is communicated in advance so that parents have enough time to prepare,” Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said, according to DW.
“The haze issue is indeed at a worrying level,” Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, adding that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had agreed to take “the necessary steps,” without giving details, Al Jazeera reported. Anwar said he had asked his foreign minister to push for an urgent meeting of ASEAN environment ministers and that Malaysia was stepping up cloud seeding to trigger rain.
Indonesia is having its worst fire season in more than a decade, with at least 200,000 hectares burned across six provinces and more than 170,000 respiratory infections recorded by its Health Ministry, Al Jazeera said. Air quality in Singapore fell into the “very unhealthy” range, according to IQAir, which ranked Kuala Lumpur the world’s second most polluted city behind Singapore. Organizers of this weekend’s Singapore Formula One Grand Prix said the race would go ahead with masks and extra medics on hand.
Sources: Al Jazeera, DW
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