Haze: Schools in Selangor, Putrajaya, KL closed for 4th consecutive day

The Education Ministry has ordered schools in six states, KL, Putrajaya, Bentong (Pahang) and several districts in Sarawak to close tomorrow (Oct 22) due to the worsening haze.

The schools affected are in Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Selangor. Schools in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Bentong (Pahang), Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Betong (Sarawak) were also ordered to close due to the worsening haze in the areas.

The ministry, in a statement said the schools closure tomorrow would affect a total of 4,778 schools and 2,696,110 students.

Earlier today, the Dewan Rakyat approved a motion to discuss the haze situation in the country.

The motion was tabled by Hee Loy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) and approved by deputy speaker Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.

Yesterday, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the haze which has caused air pollution throughout the country, is expected to subside when the two tropical storms, Koppu and Champi, which are influencing the wind pattern become less active.

Wan Junaidi said the two tropical storms which hit the Philippines and China were expected to slow down in three to four days' time.

According to him, Koppu and Champi that were still active in the Pacific Ocean, causing low pressure in the South China Sea and the southwesterly winds to blow towards this region.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia is prepared to deploy more military assets, as well as assets from relevant agencies, to help douse the forest fires in Indonesia.

He said discussion had been held with the relevant agencies, including the Fire and Rescue Department, and also to deploy more assets, like the Hercules C130, for cloud seeding.