KOTA KINABALU, 3 April 2016: A total of 77 primary and secondary schools in the Papar, Kuala Penyu and Beaufort districts have been ordered closed tomorrow due to haze.

Sabah Education Department acting director, Maimunah Suhaibul said 53 of the schools were in Beaufort, 10 in Papar and 14 in Kuala Penyu.

“The closures involve 9,365 secondary school students and 11,648 primary school pupils,” she said in a statement today.

Based on the Department of Environment’s report, she said the Air Pollutant Index in Membakut in the Beaufort district yesterday was 279.

The department would continue to monitor the development to determine the next action to be taken, she added.

In KOTA KINABALU, State Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (Operations) Khairul Azuwan Ibrahim said cigarette butts could be among the factors in incidents of fire outbreaks in several areas in Sabah.

He said smokers should avoid discarding cigarette butts arbitrarily during the current hot season as fires could easily be triggered and spread into open burning and also compromise the air quality.

In addition, Khairul Azuwan said fires in jungle areas were seen as caused by open burning for agricutltural purposes and clearing farms.