Malaysia lifts haze emergency in two areas

The Malaysian government lifted the haze emergency in two areas of the Selangor state on Saturday after the Air Pollution Index (API) readings dropped below 500.

The withdrawal of the emergency status in Kuala Selangor and Port Klang was declared under the instruction of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the National Security Council (NSC) said.

"However, government agencies, the private sector and members of the public involved in dealing with the haze problem should continue to intensify efforts to ensure that the air quality remains at a satisfactory level," NSC said in a statement released here.

NSC, however, did not provide the current API readings in the two areas.

According to local reports, the API in Kuala Selangor recorded at 5 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Friday fell to 228 while the index for Port Klang dropped to 182.

On Thursday, Badawi declared the haze emergency in the two areas when the API readings surged above 500, a level that is classified as "hazardous" to health.

API levels above 300 are considered "hazardous," between 201 and 300 as "very unhealthy," between 101 and 200 as "unhealthy," between 51 and 100 as "moderate" and below 50 as "good".

Source: Xinhua