EMB to release Metro Cebu air quality test results

ARE the gloomy skies in Cebu caused by haze from forest fires or smog from motor vehicle pollution?
The result of air quality tests will be out tomorrow, Wednesday, said William Cuñado, regional director of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-7).
The EMB-7 took air samples last week in the vicinity of Ayala area as well as in Mandaue City after weathermen confirmed that visibility had dropped over Cebu.
“With the use of the ambient apparatus, results will determined if there are high forms of gas or particulates in the air,” Cuñado told Cebu Daily News.
The weather bureau defines haze as particles of fine dust suspended in the air that produce limited visibility while smog is air pollution caused by a mixture of smoke and fog.
Experts from the DENR and the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said there was no hard evidence that the phenomenon was caused by forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Al Quiblat, Pagasa Mactan chief, said he noticed clearer skies in Metro Cebu yesterday.
Quiblat said it was possible that the habagat or the southwest monsoon has brought the smoke from the forest fires in Indonesia.
He attributed yesterday’s clearer skies in Cebu to the shift in the direction of the wind to the northeast monsoon or amihan.
DENR-7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said earlier that EMB experts in Manila told him haze from Indonesia reaching the Philippines’ area of jurisdiction was impossible because of the distance of both countries.
MALAYSIA ACTION
However, haze caused by the burning of Indonesia’s forests to clear land for farming has indeed affected its neighbors Malaysia and Singapore.
Yesterday, Malaysia shut most schools nationwide for two days to protect children from a thick, noxious haze caused by smoke from burning forests in neighboring Indonesia.
The haze, which has shrouded parts of Malaysia and Singapore for about a month, also spread to Thailand yesterday, the first time it has reached hazardous levels so far north.
It highlights the regional nature of a problem that’s being blamed on Indonesia’s inability to prevent big plantation companies from burning forests to clear land for new trees.
The air pollutant index hit the hazardous level in Shah Alam, the capital of Malaysia’s central Selangor state, and was very unhealthy in many other areas. That prompted authorities to order the closure of 7,000 schools on Monday and Tuesday, even though the situation eased early Monday.
The poor visibility forced several airports in Malaysia to be closed for hours on Sunday. A popular annual marathon in Kuala Lumpur was also canceled.
Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said Indonesia’s efforts to crack down on the sources of open burning by farmers were not enough. He said Indonesia should seek more help from its Southeast Asian neighbors to tackle the haze, which is an annual problem.