Eight areas in Sarawak recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings compared to six yesterday, with Kuching having the highest reading at 204, as at 9am this morning.

Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) secretariat head, Major Ismail Mahedin from Sarawak Civil Defence Force said the API for Miri city, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Baram 2 and the Industrial Training Centre recorded readings of between 106 and 186.

“Other areas with unhealthy API readings are Sri Aman, Samarahan, Sarikei, Sibu and Mukah,” he said in a statement.

According to him, the 12 hotspots were detected in Sarawak while Indonesia had 1,087 hotspots detected in Kalimantan and 306 in Sumatera.

An API reading of 0-50 shows good air quality, 51-100 (moderate), 101- 200 (unhealthy), 201- 300 (very unhealthy) while 300 and above is hazardous.

- Bernama