The atmosphere in Malaysia is stifling, as the thick haze from the fires raging in neighboring Indonesia has significantly degraded air quality, prompting authorities to close schools in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country.
“I have instructed all regional and local education offices to continue monitoring the haze situation and to take immediate action if conditions require it,” said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
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“I also understand that any decision to close schools affects parents’ daily lives,” she added in her statement, which lists the schools that have been fully or partially closed in five states and two federal territories.
“In the future, we will ensure that any decision to close schools is announced in advance so that parents have sufficient time to prepare,” Fadhlina said late Thursday (10/08).
Air quality in Kuala Lumpur has remained consistently at “unhealthy levels” this week, with a Swiss air quality monitoring agency ranking the Malaysian capital among the world’s most polluted cities on most days.
The King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim, addressed the issue on Thursday, stating that schools should close when air quality readings reach 150 or higher on the Air Pollution Index (API).
According to Malaysian guidelines, API readings above 200 are classified as very unhealthy, above 300 as hazardous, while readings exceeding 500 trigger a local state of emergency.
On Friday, the reading in Kuala Lumpur hovered around 170 on the API. The city was the second most polluted in the world, after neighboring Singapore, according to the Swiss air quality monitoring agency IQAir.
Source: ERT
