The Malaysian government lifts the state of emergency in Sarawak but warns that pollution remains extremely dangerous

Malaysia’s government lifted the state of emergency declared in the state of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, on Monday after toxic smoke from forest fires in Indonesia caused extremely high levels of pollution. Authorities warned, however, that the situation has not fully returned to normal.

The measure had been announced on Friday after a dense cloud of smoke covered several areas of Sarawak. Near the town of Serian, the air pollution index exceeded the critical threshold of 500, a level at which only essential services are allowed to continue operating.

On Monday, the index fell below 300 following weekend rains and cloud-seeding operations carried out to trigger artificial precipitation. The Malaysian prime minister’s office said the king had approved the lifting of the state of emergency but stressed that the air remains extremely hazardous in some areas.

The fires in Indonesia intensified amid the dry season and a strong El Niño event. The hotspots are concentrated in Borneo and Sumatra and are linked, among other factors, to deforestation for the expansion of agricultural land. The smoke spread across Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.||||slug||||{{slug}}