Imelda Saad Channel NewsAsia 11 Apr 11;
SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities have stressed that the country's food and water supply remains free from harmful radioactive material.
Minister of State for Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor gave the update in Parliament, a month after a massive quake hit Japan triggering a tsunami which damaged its Fukushima nuclear plant.
Authorities in Singapore say the current situation at Fukushima remains serious but they also stress that the likelihood of any radioactive plume reaching Singapore is very low.
Even though sea waters around Fukushima have been found to be radioactive, Singapore's coastal waters remain safe. Because Singapore is more than 5,000 kilometres away from Japan, even if any radioactive plume or sea water reaches the country, the impact is "inconsequential". That is because by then, any radioactive material would have been diluted to "insignificant levels"
Authorities continue to monitor drinking supply and food imports from Japan.
Singapore's water authority, the PUB, has found the country's inland and drinking water to be well within the safety level stipulated by the World Heath Organisation.
Meanwhile, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority is stepping up its food surveillance. Radiation was detected in a few shipments of vegetable from Japan, but these were disposed of. Fresh produce and milk from affected regions have been banned.
Still MPs point out that concerns among Singaporeans remain.
MP for West Coast GRC Ho Geok Choo asked: "The public has indeed been expressing reservations about eating seafood and I think we are also seeing Singaporeans shunning Japanese restaurants for fear of contaminated seafood. How safe is seafood imported from elsewhere?"
Dr Amy Khor, Minister of State with the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, answered: "All shipments of fruits and vegetables, seafood, milk, meat, and milk products from Japan are subject to what we call hold and test policy. That means sample from each shipment are taken for testing and the shipment is only released when it is found to be safe for consumption. As such food imported from Japan, including seafood that is available from the market is safe for consumption".
The government has also stressed that at this point, it has only embarked on a "pre-feasibility" study on nuclear energy and what happened in Fukushima, it said, makes it all the more important that authorities conduct such a study.
Senior Minister of State with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, S Iswaran, said: "The aim is to gain a deeper insight into critical issues like the different technologies that are available and being developed; the international regulatory regime; the essential elements for the safe operation of a nuclear plant; the management of spent nuclear fuel; protection against terrorist attacks; radiation protection; and emergency planning."
Mr Iswaran added that even with the completion of the pre-feasibility study, it will be many years before Singapore makes any decision on nuclear energy. He explained that the study is important because even if Singapore does not proceed with nuclear energy, authorities need to understand its implications for the region and the country.
-CNA/ac
Singapore safe from radiation contamination
Straits Times 12 Apr 11;
SINGAPORE is safe from any effects of the nuclear fallout in Japan, and airtight plans are in place to prevent any contamination.
These were the reassurances Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor gave the House yesterday, in response to a question from Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC).
Madam Ho said residents were concerned about the possibility of radiation contamination, and asked what steps the Government was taking to ensure that Singapore remained radiation-free.
Modelling simulations carried out by the National Environment Agency and the World Meteorological Organisation show the likelihood of any radioactive plume reaching Singapore is 'very low', said Dr Khor.
Even if such a plume did reach the Republic, its impact would be 'inconsequential', as the concentration of radioactive substances in the plume would be diluted to insignificant levels, she said, adding that the same could be said of the possibility of radioactive seawater affecting the waters and coast of Singapore.
Radiation leaks from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, which are seeping directly into the sea and affecting produce grown in its vicinity, have triggered global fears of radioactive contamination of food and water sources.
Singapore is more than 5,000km from the Japanese nuclear plant.
As a precaution, the Government is monitoring the radiation in coastal waters here, and in drinking water. No abnormal changes have been measured in water sources so far.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, however, has suspended food imports from 11 Japanese prefectures to date, after samples taken from shipments from those areas were found to contain higher- than-usual levels of radiation.
However, all food here is safe to eat, stressed Dr Khor, as imports from Japan are subject to a 'hold-and-test process'.
This means the products will be released for sale only after test results show them to be free of contamination.
'I'd like to assure the House that contingency plans are in place to deal with any deterioration of the situation in Japan,' she said.
More information on the Government's response to the crisis can be found at one-stop information portal www.gov.sg/japanquake
JESSICA LIM
No risk of radiation contamination in Singapore
Imelda Saad Aziz Today Online 13 Apr 11;
The authorities say there is no change in the assessment risk to the country, despite Japan's revised rating of the situation at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised its provisional rating of the situation at the plant to Level 7 -putting it on the same scale as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, after an estimate of the total amount of radioactivity released from the plant.
Singapore's Information, Communications and the Arts Ministry and the National Environment Agency said although the situation in Japan remains serious, it does not indicate it has worsened.
Radiation levels in various prefectures reported by the Japanese authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency did not show any significant changes over the past few days.
Singapore is also located more than 5,000km away from the plant.
Even in the unlikely event that any radioactive plume reaches the country, the concentration of radioactive substances would be diluted to insignificant levels over the long distance.
The Government will continue with existing measures to safeguard against radioactive contamination being imported into Singapore, and stand ready to step up measures if necessary. IMELDA SAAD
Major seafood suppliers report drop in business amid radiation fears
Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 12 Apr 11;
SINGAPORE: Major seafood suppliers to Japanese restaurants in Singapore have said they are experiencing up to 40 per cent drop in businesses.
Addressing concerns over possible radiation contamination in seafood, they told MediaCorp that there is no need to fear.
Most seafood at Japanese restaurants here is sourced from outside Japan.
The assurance that Japanese seafood here is safe to eat was also given in Parliament on Monday.
Only three to five per cent of seafood served at Japanese restaurants in Singapore comes from Japan, according to seafood suppliers.
The rest is imported from elsewhere.
Mr Thomas Woo, sales manager at Huan Trading, which supplies seafood to 80 per cent of the over 1,000 Japanese restaurants in Singapore, said: "Salmon is from Norway, the tuna is from Indonesia, the Hiramasa (kingfish) is from Australia. The items that do come from Japan (are) like all the sea urchin, the Hamachi (yellowfin)...the flounder fish..."
But seafood suppliers said that with recent stepped-up checks by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), freshness of seafood has been affected.
Mr Woo said: "The difficulty is because all these have to be consumed within three days, fresh items. But they take one, two days to check, then you release it to the customer, then I think it is very difficult because it is not so fresh anymore."
And as Japanese restaurants turn to safer, alternative sources, seafood suppliers feel that it is the freshness that Japanese seafood lovers are going to miss.
Thomas Ng, sales director of Indoguna, said: "The Japanese way of killing the fish is to immediately kill. So it is not like the Europeans or the Western countries that leave the fish to die naturally. So it causes rigor mortis on the fish, the sweetness of the fish is all there, and the fishy smell of the fish is gone..."
Some suppliers said they will give discounts of up to 10 per cent, even though their business costs have been driven up by almost 10 per cent due to the shortage of seafood from Japan.
Jack Park, president of Todai Singapore, said: "Public education is necessary to reassure our customers about the origin of the food they eat. As fresh seafood is served at our restaurant, it is of utmost importance for us to take that step in telling our customers the source of origin of our seafood, so that our customers are aware that Todai does not serve any seafood from Japan."
The AVA said its ongoing surveillance programme ensures that food in Singapore is safe for consumption.
"As part of this programme, we routinely sample and test seafood for preservatives, drug residues and contaminants such as heavy metals (for example, mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic)," an AVA statement said.
But it added that it tests for radioactive contamination in seafood imported from Japan only.
"We do not carry out such tests for other countries as the risk of radioactive contamination of seafood is negligible," it said.
- CNA/ms
