Sarawak town declares air quality emergency as haze from Indonesian fires drives AQI to 521

Published on 04/09/2026 – 13:02 GMT+2

Malaysia declared an emergency in a town in Sarawak state on Borneo Island on Friday after air pollution breached the country’s emergency‑level threshold linked to fires in neighbouring Indonesia.

The Air Pollutant Index (API) 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 recorded a hazardous reading of 311.

Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has consented to the declaration of an emergency in Serian, which will enable more effective measures, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office said in a statement.

Officials have indicated that an API above 500 may lead to the suspension of non‑essential work and outdoor activities. Schools are already closed when the index exceeds 200.

Haze is a recurring seasonal problem across Southeast Asia, where smoke from forest and peat fires in Indonesia can travel across borders and affect Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.

Sarawak has been the worst‑hit Malaysian state by the haze, with several areas reporting hazardous air levels in recent days.

This year’s haze has been particularly severe, driven by elevated fire activity in several Indonesian provinces—including Kalimantan—and prolonged dry conditions that have worsened pollution across parts of Borneo.

Satellite data released by Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry on Friday identified 717 hotspots nationwide likely caused by forest fires since 1 August, with 103 active spots recorded in the previous 24 hours alone.

Indonesian authorities have deployed firefighting resources and attempted cloud seeding to induce rain.

Police announced the arrest of 112 suspects accused of deliberately igniting forest and peatland fires in ten provinces on Sumatra and Borneo islands. The detainees are local farmers who allegedly used controlled burns to clear land at lower cost.

Indonesia has also suspended the business licences of five companies over alleged forest and land fires within their concessions in Kalimantan province.

Pipit Subiyanto, a senior police official at Indonesia’s National Police criminal investigation agency, said authorities are investigating 167 cases involving the deliberate burning of roughly 4,700 hectares of land across nine provinces.

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