MIRI: The monitoring of burning activities through drones is carried out everyday
including at night to detect and prevent local haze incidents in Miri.

Sarawak Minister for Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin said that as a preventive measure, related agencies were also instructed to continue patrolling and monitoring and to take immediate action if smoke or fire is detected.

"The Environment Department utilises drones. We fly drones to check and monitor because we don't want local haze to happen.

“Please monitor the situation daily, and even at night we can fly drones. If you see smoke, take action immediately," he said.

He said this when speaking at the Closing Ceremony of the Hands-On Programme of Standing Procedures for Preventing Peatland Fire Operations under the Infrastructure Availability Project in Peatland Areas and Other Fire Hazard Areas to Overcome Haze 2026 at the Kenyalang Convention and Exhibition Centre (KCEC), here, on Wednesday.

According to the Senadin Assemblyman, the continuous monitoring measures are important to ensure that any burning activity can be detected early before it spreads and affects the air quality in the area.

However, Dato Sri Lee said, based on monitoring and information received from the Chairman of the Miri Division Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) and Miri Division Resident Galong Luang, thus far no fire incidents have been reported in Miri that can be linked to the haze.

"Every day I ask the Miri DDMC Chairman if there is a fire in Miri or not. He said there were no reports of fires in Miri.

"This means that the haze in Miri comes from outside, as wind direction blows the haze here,” he said.

In this regard, he instructed all relevant agencies including the Department of Environment (DOE), Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB), Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM), Malaysian Civil Defense Force (APM) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to continue to intensify patrols and monitoring in the field.

He also advised community leaders and village chiefs to assist in delivering awareness messages to residents to cease open burning activities, particularly in the current dry weather conditions.
"What we want is prevention. We don't want a fire to happen and then we fight it. That's what we want to avoid," he said.

Based on the Sarawak Air Pollution Index (API) reading released by NREB as of 4 pm on Wednesday, Miri recorded an API reading of 151, categorised as unhealthy, while Miri ILP area recorded an API reading of 92 which is at a moderate level. -UKASnews