But north-easterly winds are keeping haze from affecting S'pore
Judith Tan, Straits Times 31 Jan 09;
THE threat of haze from Sumatra's forest fires has returned this month as hot spots increase in the Riau province of Sumatra.
Fortunately, it will not be affecting Singapore's air quality any time soon, despite the island experiencing a dry spell.
The current prevailing north-easterly winds are keeping the smoke haze at bay - for the time being.
The National University of Singapore's Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (Crisp), using satellite imaging, detected fires in Riau on Jan19, 22 and 28.
'Fires in January this year come earlier than usual. If the dry spell continues, we may expect more land-clearing activities in Riau and other parts of Indonesia,' said Dr Liew Soo Chin, who heads the Crisp research team.
Fire starters - farmers, individuals and big companies which hire people to start the fires - often take advantage of a dry spell to start fires to clear the land.
For the last couple of years, fire activity in Riau has usually begun in the later part of February, said Dr Liew.
But he said it would be hard to predict now whether there would be more hot spots in a couple of weeks.
A hot spot is a fire covering at least a hectare of land.
Dr Liew added that with the north-easterly winds blowing in the first few months of the year, 'even if there are fires in Sumatra, the haze will not affect Singapore'.
Since 1998, Crisp has held daily checks on fires in the region using satellite images and reported its findings to the Environment Ministry.
The World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia, with the help of ground staff and satellite images, has detected 1,025 hot spots across the country as of Monday - with more than 800 in Riau alone.
It said the forest fires in Riau reached their peak for this month on Wednesday last week, with 172 hot spots detected that day alone.
A check with volunteers of homegrown non-governmental organisation Mercy Relief in Riau found there were three ongoing forest fires yesterday - an improvement from a week ago.
Mr Fatra Budeyanto, a spokesman for the Alliance of the Indigenous People of Riau, told The Straits Times there were 30 to 40 hot spots a week ago.
'The haze was particularly bad in the morning and evening. When the rain came in the last three days, it brought respite and put out most of the fires,' he said.
According a report in the Jakarta Post on Thursday, the Indonesian government had promised to investigate a forestry company and a group of local farmers accused of using illegal slash-and- burn methods to clear land, causing widespread forest fires across the Riau province.
Mr Illyas Asaad, Deputy Minister for Environmental Compliance, told the newspaper that stern measures 'were in the works to help fight Indonesia's international image as a smoke exporter'.
However, he declined to identify the company in question.
Last year, haze hit Singapore in May when smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia drifted over the island.
