Air quality in Peninsular Malaysia remains bad

Air quality in Peninsular Malaysia remains bad

Air quality remained bad today as the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia continued to be blanketed by a heavy shroud of haze, with many coastal cities recording an unhealthy reading on the Air Pollutant Index (API).

According to readings published on the Department of Environment's (DOE) website, six locations including Seremban, Malacca, and Putrajaya were rated as unhealthy (100-200) on the API as at 5pm today.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said in a statement today that the haze is caused by open burning of forests and land in Sumatera, Indonesia according to satellite images captured by the Singaporean based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The agency detected 132 hot spots in Kalimantan, Indonesia, alone, while only one hot spot was detected in Sumatera due to incomplete satellite coverage as of Sunday.

According to satellite coverage, the ministry said, the haze is expected to spread to Pahang and to east Johor in the next 48 hours while in East Malaysia the haze from Kalimantan is expected to spread to west Sarawak and the waters surrounding both Sabah and Sarawak in the same period of time.

The ministry said the country is still experiencing the southwest monsoon phase that is expected to end by mid-September and noted that the haze will likely dissipate by the monsoon transition phase in October.

Meanwhile, the Environment Department will continue monitoring the status and trend of air quality on an hourly basis due to the uncertain haze situation and increased hot spots in Sumatera and Kalimantan.

All government agencies relevant to haze disaster response have also stepped up efforts in preventing open burning locally that will worsen the already unhealthy air quality.

Local governments and land owners have also been instructed to closely monitor and take preventive actions in places that could easily catch fire such as waste disposal spots, forests, farm land, and industrial complexes.

Meanwhile, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar will also head to Indonesia as soon as possible to meet his counterpart there to discuss solutions and to finalise a memorandum of understanding on cross-border haze prevention.

~News courtesy of The Sun~

Registration period for Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia extended to Oct 1

Registration period for Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia extended to Oct 1

Malaysian authorities have extended the registration period for the Vehicle Entry Permit to Oct 1 to give more motorists the chance to register their vehicles as well as to enable the delivery of Radio Frequency Identification cards and approval by the authorities in both countries.

Only 45,000 Singapore vehicles have registered for the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) levied on foreign cars entering Malaysia, according to Malaysian authorities.

VEP registration has now been extended to Oct 1 to enable the delivery of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards and approval by the authorities in both countries.

State Public Works, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Hasni Mohammad admitted that the VEP registration system still needed some improvement.

"Only 45,000 foreign vehicles have registered for the VEP compared to the expected 500,000 vehicles," he said after visiting the VEP registration counter at Sultan Iskandar building on Tuesday (Sep 1). "The two weeks starting Aug 15 did not allow all the foreign vehicles to be registered online or over the counter."

Since Aug 15, motorists could register online and pay a RM10 (S$3.35) fee for a five-year period before the Road Transport Department (RTD) issued RFID cards. Once registered, the vehicles would be allowed to enter Johor free of charge for one month from Sep 1 to Sep 30. Motorists will have to pay RM20 for VEP for each entry from Oct 1.

"It is not just to provide comfort to those who have registered but also to ensure that all the rules and regulations are adhered to," Mr Hasni said. He said as many as 200,000 to 230,000 vehicles of various types went through the two checkpoints weekly.

In August, Malaysia's Transport Ministry pushed back the start date of the VEP fee from Sep 1 to Oct 1.

The VEP is levied on all passenger vehicles (including MPVs and SUVs). Government vehicles, motorcycles, public buses and taxis are exempted from payment but still need to register with RTD.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~