Malaysia declares emergency in Sarawak town as haze pollution level hits 521

Malaysia declared an emergency on Friday in a town in Sarawak state on Borneo Island after air pollution breached the country’s emergency-level threshold linked to fires in neighbouring Indonesia.The Air Pollutant Index in Serian, a small agricultural town of just under 90,000 near the border of Indonesia’s Kalimantan province, surged to 521 on Friday, according to Malaysia’s environment department. Sarawak’s much larger capital, Kuching, also showed a hazardous reading of 311.Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has consented to the declaration of an emergency in Serian, which would allow more effective measures to be taken, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office said in a statement. It did not provide details but officials have said a reading above 500 could provide for non-essential work and outdoor activities to be halted. Schools are already shut if the index is above 200.