S Ramesh and Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 17 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE: A day filled with hazy skies and smoky air. That's what Singaporeans experienced for much of Monday, as strong burning smell wafted across the island.
The 3-hourly PSI breached 100, crossing into the unhealthy range, to 105 at 3pm. It hit a high of 155 at 10pm, surpassing October 2006's peak reading of 150, but below the all-time high of 226 set in September 1997.
Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) said it has alerted Indonesia's Ministry of Environment on the worsening haze situation here.
The Manpower Ministry has also issued an advisory for workers and employers.
Whether in the heartlands in Toa Payoh or in the city at Marina Bay Sands, it was hazy skies all round the island.
The smoke haze from the fires in Sumatra has affected Singapore since June 13.
Many had hoped it would clear with the rain on Sunday night, but that was not to be.
NEA said everyone, in particular children, the elderly and those with heart or lung diseases, should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor activities.
A check by Channel NewsAsia with several clinics and doctors revealed no spike in the number of haze-related cases.
But one doctor had this advice for the public.
Dr Joyce Liang, a family doctor, said: "If it is not really crucial to be outdoors and exercising at this time, I would advise no strenuous exercise outdoors, especially for the elderly who may have heart problems, respiratory problems, and the very young children.
"Now's not a very good time to be playing in the pool or riding a bike as long as the PSI is above 100.
"Sometimes the mask may offer them a false sense of security but in actual fact, the paper mask, the simple ones, they are not really useful because they will not cut off the particulate matter.
"What is effective is the N95 mask, but the N95 mask - truth be told - is actually difficult to use for a long period of time. Some people say it suffocates them.
"So I would imagine that if the PSI crosses the 150 mark and if you have to be outdoors, you may have to consider using the N95 mask."
Meanwhile, government agencies have also issued health advisories.
The Ministry of Manpower said under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, employers have a duty to protect the safety and health of workers.
It urged employers to carry out proper risk assessment, including specifying when to stop work, to ensure risks identified are minimised or mitigated.
Meanwhile, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he is "deeply concerned" about the haze in Singapore.
He said in a statement that 113 hotspots were detected over Sumatra on Monday, leading to the "bad haze" in Singapore.
Dr Balakrishnan said his ministry has been in touch with the Indonesian authorities to register Singapore's concern and to renew its offer of assistance.
He also said he would speak to his Indonesian counterpart personally to convey the seriousness of the situation.
- CNA/al
Haze hits levels not seen since 1997 record
Alfred Chua and Low Jen Thye Kenneth Today Online 18 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE — After the haze had seemingly moderated over the weekend, it came back with a vengeance yesterday, shrouding the city throughout the day, affecting visibility and causing respiratory problems for some, as the air quality plunged to unhealthy levels for the first time in almost three years.
At 3pm, the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading reached 105, which falls within the “unhealthy” range. The situation deteriorated rapidly and at 10pm, the three-hour PSI was 155 — the highest since September 1997 when it reached 226. The last time the haze hit such levels was in 2006, when the PSI peaked at 150. At press time, the reading was 145.
The poor air quality prompted the Ministry of Manpower to remind employers to minimise outdoor work involving strenuous activities and put in place a system that regularly updates their workers on the measures being taken to ensure their safety and well-being, and allow employees to report any adverse effects on their health.
Under existing guidelines, uniformed services such as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) are also to reduce physical and outdoor training.
Ministry of Defence Director of Public Affairs Kenneth Liow said: “The health and safety of our servicemen are of paramount importance to the SAF. We monitor air quality closely, and have in place a set of PSI-Activity Guidelines under the SAF Medical Directives and Training Safety Regulations to calibrate our outdoor activities and training according to the PSI reading.”
An SCDF spokesperson said that in addition to the guidelines, “officers will exercise discretion to suspend training when deemed necessary in view of the haze situation at their location”.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) attributed the haze to drier weather conditions, which led to “an escalation in hotspot activities” in parts of Sumatra in Indonesia, adding that the situation was expected to persist over the next few days.
On Saturday and Sunday, 101 and 138 hotspots were detected respectively. Yesterday, another 113 hotspots were detected.
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said in a press statement that the Government was “deeply concerned” about the latest number of hotspots in Sumatra which have “led to such a bad haze” here. “We are in touch with the Indonesian authorities to register our concern, and renew our offer of assistance. I will also speak to the Indonesian Minister for the Environment personally to convey the seriousness of the situation,” he said.
NEA also said that it has alerted Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment “on the haze situation experienced in Singapore, and urged the Indonesian authorities to look into urgent measures to mitigate the transboundary haze occurrence”. It added that it will “continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates when necessary”.
Given the hazy conditions, the NEA has advised children, the elderly and those with heart or lung diseases, to “reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor activities. Everyone else should limit prolonged or heavy outdoor activities”.
Daily routines affected, GPs seeing more patients
Barclays economist Wai Ho Leong noted that the economic cost for Singapore can be “significant” if the haze persists, particularly in the services sector. “It could cast a pall on the Great Singapore Sale and divert would-be visitors to other parts of the world,” he told Bloomberg. Nevertheless, the effect of the haze was already felt by many on the island.
Deliveryman Lim Keng Hua, 50, said that visibility inside the Chin Swee Tunnel - where he was driving through yesterday afternoon - was “poor”. “I could not even see the lane markers,” he added.
The haze was the talk of town yesterday as the topic trended on social media with many netizens lamenting its adverse effects and sharing pictures of the hazy skies on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
While the haze disrupted some people’s daily routines - as they chose to stay indoors - there were others who carried on their activities. For instance, when TODAY visited MacRitchie reservoir yesterday afternoon, some students were spotted undergoing their Co-Curricular Activity trainings during the school holidays - despite the Ministry of Education’s existing guidelines that outdoor physical education, sports and games are to be cancelled once the PSI reading hits the unhealthy range. Nevertheless, the teachers overseeing the trainings said that the students would not be asked to do any strenuous activity. One of them noted that they would exercise their own judgement on whether the training should be cancelled.
Still, canoeist Lum Tze Tian, a 23-year-old Nanyang Technological Undergraduate, abandoned his plans to train because of the haze. “I also advised my juniors to stop training because the situation is quite bad,” he said.
Some general practitioners whom TODAY spoke to also reported seeing more patients with haze-related ailments.
Noting the difficulty of identifying patients who are suffering ailments caused solely by the haze, Dr Choong Sheau Peng said that he has recently been seeing “about six to eight more cases per day” of patients who have asthma and skin problems.
Another GP, Dr Victor Teo, noted that conditions such as eczema, asthma and eye irritations- including like conjunctivitis- have been made worse by the haze. The proportion of patients with such issues has increased over the past one week.”
NEA urges Indonesia to prevent transboundary haze
Channel NewsAsia 17 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) on Monday said it has alerted the Indonesian Ministry of Environment of the haze situation in Singapore.
It has also urged the Indonesian authorities to look into urgent measures to mitigate the transboundary haze occurrence.
In a statement, NEA said it would continue to monitor the situation closely and provide further updates when necessary.
The statement came as the 3-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading went beyond the 100 mark, putting the air quality in the unhealthy range.
The index read 110 at 5pm on Thursday.
NEA also advised children, the elderly and those with heart or lung diseases to reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor activities in view of the haze. Others should also limit prolonged or heavy outdoor activities.
The agency said the hazy conditions are expected to persist for the next few days, adding that weather conditions in the region have led to an escalation in hotspot activities mainly over central Sumatra.
Some 100 hotspots were detected over Sumatra on 15 June, with the number increasing to 138 a day later.
The smoke haze from the fires in Sumatra was brought over by prevailing winds blowing from the southwest or west, and has affected Singapore since 13 June.
The public can access PSI updates through various channels, including NEA's website, NEA Twitter, and NEA myENV App on iPhone and Android, as well as channelnewsasia.com.
- CNA/jc
Worst haze in 16 years, with PSI hitting 155
Condition expected to last most of the week as fires rage in Sumatra
Straits Times 18 Jun 13;
Grace Chua And Hoe Pei Shan In Singapore And Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta
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THE haze that shrouded Singapore yesterday was the worst in 16 years, and is expected to last for most of this week.
The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures air quality, climbed steadily throughout yesterday, reaching a high of 155 by 10pm, crossing into the unhealthy range.
The haze, which first hit the island last Friday and is likely to persist for the next few days, has worried Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who was "deeply concerned" that the 113 hot spots detected over Sumatra yesterday had caused air quality to plummet.
The last time Singapore saw such bad smog was in 1997, when the PSI topped 226.
Dr Balakrishnan said he would personally speak to his Indonesian counterpart to convey the seriousness of the situation, as well as renew Singapore's offer of assistance.
In a Facebook post last night, he said that "commercial interests in Indonesia have been allowed to override environmental concerns" for too long.
"We need the Indonesians to enforce their own laws," he wrote.
With the hazy conditions likely to continue, the National Environment Agency has advised people with heart and lung disease, children and older adults to reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.
The Ministry of Manpower yesterday also told employers to issue protective devices such as N95 masks, which filter out 95 per cent of very fine particles, to employees with heart or respiratory illnesses who are working outdoors when the PSI surpasses the healthy threshold of 100.
The Singapore Armed Forces, too, has "reduced physical and outdoor training accordingly".
Yesterday, the acrid-smelling haze was visible across the island, shrouding landmarks like Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer.
The number of Sumatran hot spots detected by satellites rose from 101 on Saturday to 138 on Sunday, before dropping to 100 yesterday.
Indonesian officials say the smog is from huge tracts of peat lands around the coastal city of Dumai - located on the coast of the Strait of Malacca that faces Singapore - that have caught fire due to the early hot season.
Farmers are also burning plantations to clear land for the next planting season.
The dry season is expected to last until monsoon rains start in Sumatra around October, said Mr Okta Irawan, a weather forecaster based in Jambi, South Sumatra.
Meanwhile, "we are doing all we can to contain the fires", Mr Ilyas As'ad, a deputy environment minister, told The Straits Times by telephone.
Indonesia has deployed dozens of firefighters in the area to douse the flames.
Officials say they have managed to put out several fires near Dumai, 250km north-west of Singapore.
But there are many more fires in Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir, two regencies in Riau that border Dumai.
Water-dropping aircraft would be deployed only if local governors made a request, which they have yet to do, said the Forestry Ministry.
The lack of rain also means the pollution is not washed out of the air.
Then, winds from the west and south-west blow the smoke over to Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.
Meanwhile, organisers of outdoor events this week are watching the skies closely.
Mr Ben Swee, race organiser of Running Guild, which is holding the Banana Relay fun run at Punggol this Sunday, said the race could be cancelled if the PSI that morning exceeds 100.
Smoky air drives many indoors
Businesses and tourist attractions hit, though some brave the haze
Hoe Pei Shan And Lester Wong Straits Times 18 Jun 13;
AVOIDING outdoor attractions and public transport, forgoing exercise regimes and staying at home for days - Singaporeans and tourists alike have been taking precautions as the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) climbed to unhealthy levels yesterday.
Only six joggers were spotted in the span of an hour at the Botanic Gardens in the evening, down from the dozens who usually frequent the trails.
Said bank officer Angelina Tiong, 40, who was among the few braving the worsening air: "There are a lot less people running today, but I am still running as it is the only form of exercise that I do."
Businesses were hit too. A spokesman for CTC Travel said it received several requests from tourists to postpone their trips to the Singapore Flyer until visibility improves.
A Singapore Flyer spokesman confirmed that it was quieter yesterday, and added that visitors could have their tickets changed or refunded upon request.
The general manager of Singapore River Cruise - which runs boat trips from Clarke Quay to Marina Bay - Mr See Toh Yew Leong, also reported fewer customers since the haze first hit last Friday.
And while many people who were out yesterday were seen wearing face masks, others chose to remain indoors.
Mrs Belinda Khoo, 25, for instance, has not stepped outdoors for the past three days. Even though her online furniture business requires her to travel, she decided to work from home. "I hope it goes away soon because this air is very unhealthy, especially for children," said the mother of a two-year-old daughter.
Business manager Dias Cao, 30, meanwhile, has developed a sore throat and a cough. The avid climber has also had to give up outdoor climbing for the week.
"There is a smoky veil hanging over everything, and I can barely see beyond 200m from my window," he said.
The Singapore Armed Forces also reduced physical and outdoor training, based on its PSI-activity guidelines for readings exceeding 100. But it was business as usual at attractions such as Resorts World Sentosa, which still hosted a good number of people.
With the haze likely to persist over the next few days, the Ministry of Manpower yesterday urged employers to minimise strenuous outdoor work. It may order work to be stopped if the haze endangers workers and measures have not been taken to mitigate those risks, it added.
Any person who fails to comply with the stop-work order can be fined up to $500,000 or jailed up to 12 months, or both.
Why situation is so bad this year
Straits Times 18 Jun 13;
WHY is the haze so bad? Climate scientist Matthias Roth, an associate professor of geography at the National University of Singapore, explained that the dry season in Sumatra has come relatively early.
Early dry spell: The dryness makes it easier to clear land by burning forests, and there is no rain to rid the air of pollution.
More hot spots: The number of hot spots - defined as a fire covering a hectare of land or more - has been on the rise.
Monsoon winds: Winds from the west and south-west during the south-west monsoon season push the smoke towards Singapore.
Weather conditions: Singapore's current weather - light winds and an absence of rain - means the haze persists without being removed from the atmosphere. June is typically the third driest month of the year, after July and February. At night, the PSI often creeps up, said Associate Professor Roth, as pollutants can be trapped near the surface of the earth when the sun is not present to heat the air and cause it to mix.
But is it likely to get worse later in the year?
"As always, this is hard to predict," Prof Roth said. "If dry conditions persist or return later in the year, and burning activity continues at the current or even higher rate, worse conditions are possible."
Indonesia has pledged to control fires in other parts of Sumatra, which include several in North Sumatra province that have raged for a few days.
Extinguishing the fires has also caused some smoke, said Mr Raffles Panjaitan, director of security and investigation at the Forestry Ministry.
But in the long term, said Ms Syamsidar, a World Wide Fund for Nature activist based in Riau, the most important thing is prevention. "This would work if law enforcement is strong enough to deter people," she said.
Over the years, oil palm and timber plantation companies have expanded aggressively in Indonesia, while enforcement against the illegal burning of land has been lax.
Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil exporter and one of the world's largest paper producers.
These fires, which have become a regular affair for several months every year, have triggered protests from Indonesia's neighbours since haze started to envelop the region 16 years ago.
Asean members signed an agreement on transboundary haze pollution in June 2002, but Indonesia has yet to ratify the agreement.
GRACE CHUA and WAHYUDI SOERIAATMADJA
Haze update: Vivian Balakrishnan urges Indonesia to name companies responsible for forest fires
Grace Chua Straits Times 18 Jun 13;
THE worst episode of haze here in 16 years has prompted Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan to urge commercial pressure against firms causing the haze.
Dr Balakrishnan posted on Facebook on Tuesday (June 18) that he had spoken to his Indonesian counterpart, Balthasar Kambuaya, to express "deep distress" with the situation: "I suggested Minister Kambuaya name the companies responsible for the fires - (as I am sure consumers will know what to do)."
Choking pollution from forest fires, some started deliberately to clear land for planting, has been an annual affair for years. The worst air quality ever recorded here was during a bout of haze in 1997.
Dr Balakrishnan also urged Indonesia to publish maps of agricultural concessions. "The combination of satellite photos, which are updated daily, and these concession maps would enable us to pinpoint the errant companies," he said.
"I also offered the assistance of the Singapore government - and he said he would revert after his team assesses the situation on the ground."
But on Monday, Indonesian forest ministry official Hadi Daryanto attempted to shift some of the blame onto Malaysia and Singapore, saying their palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia were also responsible.
Singapore-listed firms like First Resources and Golden Agri Resources have plantations in Sumatra, but both say they have strict policies against burning to clear land.
The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), a measure of air quality, came down to 95 at 2pm on Tuesday, a slight improvement from the peak of 155 on Monday night.
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