Haze emergency: Malaysian students in Pekanbaru, Jambi evacuated

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 24 -- About 280 Malaysian students in Pekanbaru and Jambi, Indonesia, will be evacuated after a state of emergency was declared in Riau due to the haze, said the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA).

Of these, 160 students will be brought back to Malaysia while 120 will be evacuated to Malaysia Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia, NADMA said in a statement today.

NADMA, Wisma Putra, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and other related bodies met today to discuss the evacuation operations to bring back the 160 Malaysian students in Pekanbaru and Jambi, the agency said.

According to the Malaysian consulate general in Pekanbaru and Education Malaysia Indonesia, the 280 students who have to be evacuated comprise 183 in Pekanbaru and 97 in Jambi. 

The NADMA statement also said Riau governor Syamsuar had declared a state of emergency beginning Sept 23 until Oct 31, and this may be extended if the air pollution situation does not improve.

As of yesterday, the visibility range in these areas was 500 metres, with the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) at 600.

On the haze situation in Malaysia, NADMA said generally it was improving following the transition phase of the monsoon which began today and will continue until early November this year.

It said the transition phase meant that the southwest wind which previously blew from the neighbouring country to Malaysia will slowly change direction, and the condition here will improve.

The statement also said as of 8 a.m. today, 24 locations recorded an Air Pollutant Index (API) of unhealthy and 44 locations at moderate level.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is categorised as good, 51-100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and above 300 (hazardous).

-- BERNAMA