Government ready to declare emergency if API exceeds 400, says Arthur Kurup

The Malaysian government is considering declaring an emergency in areas with Air Pollution Index (API) readings exceeding 400 as part of its haze management protocol, following the precedent set in Serian, Sarawak where an emergency was declared due to API readings surpassing 500.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup, highlighted the use of cloud seeding operations to alleviate haze in affected areas such as Sarawak, Kedah, and Perlis.

The success of these operations has been enhanced by cooperation with Indonesia, allowing Malaysian air assets to enter its airspace.

Malaysia has also expressed readiness to assist Indonesia in combating open fires, though no formal request has been made.

KUALA BERANG, Sept 5 — The government is ready to propose declaring an emergency for any area that records an Air Pollution Index (API) reading of more than 400, in line with the standard operating procedure for haze management in the country.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup said the measure could be considered if the API reading was at a very dangerous level, as happened in Serian, Sarawak which recorded a reading of more than 500, leading to the declaration of an emergency.

“If it is more than 400, it is considered very dangerous and can be considered to declare an emergency,” he told reporters after officiating the Handover Ceremony of the Madani Adoption Village and Madani Adoption School Project in 2026 at Dataran Kampung Basong, here today.

Arthur said so far only three of the 68 API monitoring stations nationwide had recorded very unhealthy readings, namely in Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman in Sarawak, while Serian recorded readings at a dangerous level.

He said the declaration of emergency would remain in effect until the API readings showed a drop to a safer level with safety measures to be taken during that period such as school closures and wearing face masks.

It was reported yesterday that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim declared an emergency in the entire Serian Division, Sarawak following the haze conditions which had reached levels of air pollution that were hazardous to the health and safety of the public.

The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement announced that the decision was made after taking into account the advice of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak Premier, Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, as well as relevant agencies on the level of air quality in the area.

In a related development, Arthur said the cloud seeding operation carried out yesterday in Sarawak and the northern peninsula, namely in Kedah and Perlis, showed positive results with several areas recording rain starting yesterday evening until early this morning.

He said Malaysia had also received written permission from the Indonesian Government allowing the country’s air assets to enter the republic’s airspace for the purpose of cloud seeding operations.

“We have carried out cloud seeding operations in Sarawak and sometimes for wider operations, our air assets need to cross the border to ‘shoot’ at the clouds and the wind will bring the clouds to our country,” he said.

In addition, Arthur said Malaysia had also offered assets and manpower to assist in the process of extinguishing the open fires that are currently taking place in Indonesia, but so far there has been no official request from the republic in this regard. — Bernama

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马来西亚政府正在考虑，根据其雾霾管理协议，在空气污染指数 (API) 读数超过 400 的地区宣布进入紧急状态。此前，砂拉越州西连地区因 API 读数超过 500 而宣布进入紧急状态。

自然资源及环境可持续发展部长拿督斯里亚瑟·约瑟夫·库鲁普强调了利用人工降雨作业来缓解砂拉越、吉打和玻璃市等受影响地区的雾霾。

与印度尼西亚的合作提高了这些行动的成功率，使马来西亚的空中力量得以进入其领空。

马来西亚也表示愿意协助印度尼西亚扑灭露天火灾，尽管尚未提出正式请求。

瓜拉勿浪，9月5日讯——政府准备提议，对于任何空气污染指数（API）读数超过400的地区，宣布进入紧急状态，这符合该国雾霾管理的标准作业程序。

自然资源及环境可持续发展部长拿督斯里亚瑟·约瑟夫·库鲁普表示，如果API读数达到非常危险的水平，可以考虑采取该措施，就像砂拉越西连的情况一样，那里的读数超过500，导致宣布进入紧急状态。

“如果感染人数超过 400 人，那就非常危险，可以考虑宣布进入紧急状态，”他今天在 Dataran Kampung Basong 主持完 2026 年 Madani 收养村和 Madani 收养学校项目的交接仪式后告诉记者。

Arthur表示，到目前为止，全国68个API监测站中只有3个记录到非常不健康的读数，分别是古晋、三马拉汉和砂拉越的斯里阿曼，而西连的读数则达到了危险水平。

他表示，紧急状态声明将一直有效，直到空气污染指数（API）读数下降到更安全的水平，在此期间将采取安全措施，例如关闭学校和佩戴口罩。

据昨日报道，由于雾霾天气导致空气污染达到危害公众健康和安全的程度，最高元首苏丹易卜拉欣宣布砂拉越西连省全境进入紧急状态。

首相办公室在一份声明中宣布，该决定是在考虑了首相拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣和砂拉越州州长丹斯里阿邦佐哈里·敦·奥本以及相关机构对该地区空气质量水平的建议后做出的。

亚瑟表示，在相关进展中，昨天在砂拉越和北部半岛（即吉打和玻璃市）进行的人工增雨作业取得了积极成果，多个地区从昨天傍晚到今天清晨都出现了降雨。

他说，马来西亚还获得了印尼政府的书面许可，允许该国的空中力量进入印尼领空进行人工增雨作业。

他说：“我们已经在砂拉越进行了人工增雨作业，有时为了进行更广泛的作业，我们的空中力量需要越过边境去‘射击’云层，然后风会将云层带到我们国家。”

此外，亚瑟表示，马来西亚也已提出提供物资和人力，协助扑灭印尼目前正在发生的明火，但迄今为止，印尼方面尚未就此提出正式请求。——马新社

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浓雾弥漫，西连镇异常安静，并宣布进入紧急状态。

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