People wear masks as the API reading stands at 299 in Shah Alam at 1.30pm yesterday. — Picture by Azinuddin Ghazali

SHAH ALAM, Oct 5 — The haze plaguing the country took a turn for the worse yesterday when the Air Pollutant Index (API) breached the hazardous level of 300 here.

Frustrated residents lashed out at what they felt was inaction by the authorities in resolving the problem.

Siti Faridah Hassan, 34, a boat operator in Taman Tasik Barat, said the thought of the haze lasting another month was intolerable.

“Why can’t the Indonesian and Malaysian governments fix this? Why is everything going wrong? My business has dropped by half. I think people are going to suffer if this keeps up,” she said.

Shopkeeper Aminah Rahman, 34, said her father had been coughing badly for several weeks.

“My father is almost 70 and has been having a chronic cough for the past few weeks. I’m worried about his health. He is taking medication but he hasn’t improved,” she said.

“The haze is killing him. If the people responsible can’t fix the problem they shouldn’t be holding their posts.”

The API level hit 308 in Shah Alam at 9am, the highest reading in the country this year, before falling to 210 at 4pm. An API reading of zero to 50 is good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above hazardous.

Five other areas recorded very unhealthy readings at 1pm — Banting (217), Port Klang (227), Petaling Jaya (218), Kuala Lumpur (227) and Putrajaya (217). The air quality generally improved as the day went by.

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) student Nur Shazlin Hidayah, 20, said the haze was affecting her studies.

“It’s difficult to study because I feel light-headed and dizzy. It’s especially bad today. My friends and I have been trapped indoors for the past month. If it doesn’t improve soon, people are going to look for someone to blame,” she said.

Mohd Salleh, 43, a contractor at the same university, said the API readings were misleading.

“I don’t think we are being told the truth. What’s the point of reporting lower figures? Tell people the truth so they can take precautions. No one believes it is ‘unhealthy’, it’s obviously hazardous,” he said.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/tempers-rise-as-api-hits-308-in-shah-alam#sthash.H7vlcjuk.dpuf