Parents in Papar worried about children’s health

PAPAR: The hazy condition due to the open burning and drought disaster affecting the district and several areas in the state is causing concern for parents in allowing their children to go outdoors, especially in attending school.

Housewife Noor Syakira Zulkifli, 39, said this situation was compounded when her 11year-old daughter’s eyes became red and itchy as well as having blurry vision.

As a precautionary measure, this mother of three said she limited the time her children spent outdoors, and only allowed them to go out to do important things such as attending school.

“The haze on Wednesday was worse than today due to a fire in the paddy fields. I hope schools look into other initiatives, such as shorter school hours, if this situation (haze) continues,” she told Bernama on Saturday.

Noor Syakira, who hails from Kampung Takis, said this is the first time in her experience that the Papar district had been declared a drought disaster area, and she is hoping the relevant authorities will be able to help affected residents.

On Friday, Bernama reported that the Malaysian Fire And Rescue Department (JBPM) Sabah branch director Abdul Razak Muda said the department managed to extinguish the open fires covering an area of 1,721.29 hectares (ha) from January to Thursday, and it was still trying to extinguish 62.56 ha of area still burning, with most of them on the west coast of the state.

On Wednesday, the Papar District Disaster Management Committee in a statement declared Papar, located about 38 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu, as a drought disaster area following the water supply crisis which was at a critical level due to the hot weather in the area.

Private sector worker Jamal Awang, 30, also expressed concern because his 10-year-old eldest son has had asthma since childhood, and he is worried about the situation worsening due to the current haze and drought situation.

“As a father, I am really worried about the health of my child due to the haze, so I hope there is some sort of relaxation, especially from the school in terms of my child’s attendance and learning sessions,” he said, adding that the lack of water supply also makes it difficult for parents to take care of their children.

Izmir Affendi Mohd Hazman, 16, a student of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kinarut here, said wearing a face mask has become a must for he and his friends when going to school even though face masks are not mandatory.

“We take precautionary measures too as we are used to facing such a situation ...(just like) using face masks and hand sanitisers during the Covid-19 pandemic. So once again we bring out these practices during this haze and drought,” he also said.

His schoolmate, Irene Lucy Olumis, 15, said the online learning method that was used when the country was facing Covid-19 could be implemented again if the haze and drought conditions worsened in this area.

“The facilities are already there in place for online learning so I think there is no problem for us to do it again,” she added.