Salim Osman , Yeo Ghim Lay, Straits Times 25 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE'S air quality dipped further yesterday as smoke from raging fires in the Indonesian province of Riau continued to make its way north.
A haze hung over parts of Singapore yesterday afternoon and the island's official air quality index worsened but remained in the 'moderate' range.
'They (Indonesia) know that we are concerned about this and I hope they do something about it,' said Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.
Firefighters in Riau province are facing an uphill battle against the blazes, which are sweeping across peatlands and almost inaccessible forests, governor Rusli Zainal told an Indonesian news portal.
'I have asked the central government for help. Fighting fires on peatland is much more difficult than battling flames elsewhere,' he said.
Yesterday, he joined firefighting teams in worst-hit Rokan Hilir, injecting water into peatland to help douse the embers still smouldering several metres underground. Fires there have been raging for almost a week.
Choking smoke from the flames has blanketed parts of neighbouring North Sumatra and Jambi provinces, and also covered the coast of Serdang Bedagi, forcing fishermen to stay indoors instead of sailing out to the sea, according to reports.
Visibility in some places has been reduced to 500m, according to state-owned Antara news agency.
Meanwhile, Singapore is doing what it can to help Indonesia tackle the haze, Dr Yaacob said. This country has sent satellite images to Indonesia outlining the hotspots and in November pledged $1 million to prevent fires in Jambi's Muaro Jambi regency.
'We have given the commitment, the funding has already been established,' Dr Yaacob told reporters yesterday.
In Singapore, the PSI reading - which measures the quality of air - has stayed in the moderate range for three days, and went from 52 to 56 yesterday. A reading of 0 to 50 is considered good while 51 to 100 is moderate. A figure above 100 is unhealthy.
The haze comes almost five months early. It is usually present in July, when smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia drifts over to Singapore.
The last time haze struck this early in the year was 2005, when there were six days when the air quality was moderate.
The National Environment Agency said weak winds are expected to continue for the next few days, so the haze could be hanging around.
Haze cloud weekend skies
PSI reading rising, hitting a high of 56 yesterday
Sheralyn Tay, Today Online 25 Feb 08;
DON'T rub your eyes, it's not your vision blurring. It's just the haze which returned this weekend.
Yesterday, Singapore experienced its haziest day this year, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading hitting a peak of 56 (picture) at 4pm. This is the highest reading since December last year.
Yesterday was also the third consecutive day that the 24-PSI reading has crept past the good range into the moderate range of 50-100. On Saturday, the 24-hour PSI reading hit 52, up from 51 on Friday.
According to the National Environment Agency's (NEA) hot spot map, there are "numerous" hotspots over Thailand and Laos. Hot spots indicate areas with fires or hot smoke and are detected by infrared images captured by weather satellites.
While isolated hotspots have been detected over Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, western Borneo and parts of Sumatra, it was Riau in Sumatra that had been enveloped in thick smoke over the weekend as land-clearing fires created a choking haze that reduced visibility in some parts to 20 metres.
But the number of hot spots in Riau appears to be dropping, as yesterday's hot spot count was four, compared to 100 on Thursday and 50 on Friday.
According to NEA, the moderate haze is due, in part, to drier conditions. So far prevailing winds have kept most of the smoke away from Singapore, although changes in wind direction could account for hazier days ahead.
