Fire at Malaysian landfill cause of slight haze in Singapore
Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said in a Facebook post on Sunday night that the haze that has affected parts of Singapore in the past few days has been caused by a fire in a landfill in Malaysia.
“The Malaysian authorities have confirmed that a fire started at a landfill site at Pasir Gudang on 12 February,” he wrote, noting that the smell and smog from the landfill blaze was blown to the city-state by north-east winds.
"They are still trying to resolve the problem. We stand ready to assist if requested," he added.
A slight haze and burning smell were observed in Sengkang, Hougang and Serangoon early on Sunday morning, prompting people to wonder if the smog had returned, according to Channel NewsAsia.
Earlier on Thursday, residents in the eastern part of Singapore complained of a “strong burning smell”, and in the wee hours of Friday morning, the pollutant concentrations index, better known as the PM2.5 reading, spiked in the area.
PM2.5 readings measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than or equivalent to 2.5 micrometers in size, which are considered to pose the greatest amount of health risk because they can lodge deeply into human lungs.
Though the residents noted a slight haze, the National Environment Agency (NEA) assured that the air quality in Singapore continued to remain “moderate”.
