Hazy skies in Singapore to worsen; welfare of neighbours not Indonesia's priority: Balakrishnan
Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has warned that the haze may worsen next week.
In a strongly-worded Facebook post on Tuesday night, the minister said that hotspots were increasing “dramatically” in Sumatra again.
“Haze may worsen when the winds weaken next week. Some rain expected, but not enough to douse the fires,” added Balakrishnan.
He also expressed frustration with Indonesia over the haze situation.
“We will try to encourage them to take action - but we all know the welfare of close neighbours is not their priority. Hard truths of regional politics,” he said.
According to an advisory on the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) website, a total of 458 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Tuesday – a sharp increase from the 187 hotspots detected the day before.
Of the 458 hotspots, 246 were in Riau province, where some smoke plumes were observed to be emanating from the hotspots.
But NEA said Singapore is unlikely to experience haze for the rest of the week.
“The prevailing winds are expected to remain northeasterly for these two weeks. Therefore, for the rest of this week, the likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore remains low, although Singapore may experience occasional slight haze due to accumulation of particulate matter under stable atmospheric conditions,” said NEA.
As at 12pm on Wednesday, Singapore’s 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading was between 25 and 33, while the three-hour PSI reading was 28 — both within the “good” air quality range.
Early, prolonged haze season
Meanwhile, pulp and paper maker Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) has also warned of a prolonged haze season, citing the early start of the burning season.
The Singapore-headquartered plantation developer, which has extensive plantations and operations in the Riau province of Sumatra in Indonesia, reported 55 fires near its plantations in the first five weeks of this year, adding the number is expected to increase rapidly.
APRIL said that with Sumatra seeing little rain since late last month, burning — the cheapest and most efficient way for farmers to clear land for agriculture — has started early this year.
Its head of technical services in Riau M.P. Periasamy said, “All it takes is five days of no rain for the land to dry out and the temptation rises in the community to set fires.”
During the typical Indonesian dry season - June through October - hundreds of illegal blazes are ignited.
In June last year, Singapore experienced its worst haze crisis when the three-hour PSI reading hit an all-time high of 401.
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