SINGAPORE has registered its concerns to the Indonesian authorities over the rising number of hot spots amid fears of a repeat of last month's haze episode.
Indonesia has acknowledged that there has been "new sporadic burning". There were 252 fire hot spots on Sumatra yesterday, including 167 in the province of Riau, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Last month, when the haze was at its worst, there were more than 400 fires on Sumatra.
NEA chief executive Ronnie Tay has contacted the appropriate ministers in Indonesia to express Singapore's concerns and extend assistance to detect and put out the fires early. Indonesia's deputy minister for environment and social vulnerability, coordinating ministry for people's welfare, Mr Willem Rampangilei, admitted that there has been "new sporadic burning".
An NEA spokesman said: "He assured Mr Tay that the Indonesian government is monitoring the situation and taking various actions on the ground to suppress the fires, such as cloud seeding and water bombing efforts.
"He added that law enforcement and socialisation efforts on the ground have been strengthened, and the deployment of additional police and troops to the Riau area will be considered urgently in a high-level inter-agency meeting."
Cloud seeding is done to induce rain to help put out the fires.
Singapore's air quality until 4pm today is expected to be good to moderate, although this could change with the wind, the NEA said. Lately, it has been blowing in a southerly direction, buffeting any haze away from the Republic.
The 24-hour PSI (Pollutant Standards Index) is expected to be in the good band, or less than 50. The 24-hour PM2.5 reading is expected to be slightly elevated, but normal activities can continue.
Experts said this year's dry season is especially arid.
Nanyang Technological University weather researcher Koh Tieh Yong said computer simulations indicate winds from the south are likely to persist for the next day or two, so the haze might not return yet.
"Overall drier weather may hang around for the next 10 to 15 days despite occasional showers," he said. "So if the number of hot spots in Riau and Jambi does not decrease, any subsequent change in the wind direction to blow from the west or south-west would increase the risk of haze in Singapore."
Mr Dedi Hari, World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia's forest fire mitigation coordinator, said the hot spots are mainly in peat areas around the districts of Rokan Hilir, Dumai and Bengkalis, and were caused by dry, hot weather.
Assistant Professor Jason Blake Cohen, a climate researcher in the National University of Singapore's civil and environmental engineering department, said the fires are very likely man-made. Fires started by lightning and other natural causes in South-east Asia are "extremely rare", he said.
The increase in hot spots comes after last week's Asean meeting on transboundary haze in Kuala Lumpur, at which Indonesia declined to make its concession maps public, agreeing only to share them with governments.
The maps show the areas where companies are allowed to carry out activities such as growing palm oil.
Dr Nigel Sizer, director of think-tank World Resources Institute's global forestry initiative, said the new hot spots are a "cause for great concern".
The lack of published maps makes it harder for non-governmental organisations, local governments and government agencies - especially in Riau - to respond quickly, he said.
"The key thing in the immediate term is to respond rapidly and try to put the fires out before they become larger," he added.
Singapore expresses concern to Indonesia as hotspots in Sumatra rise
Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 22 Jul 13;
SINGAPORE: Singapore has expressed its concern to Indonesia over the sudden spike in the number of hotspots in Sumatra and added that the region will be shrouded by smoke haze if the hotspots continue to remain high.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said this comes as satellite data shows a marked increase in the hotspot numbers in the last two days.
There were 261 hotspot counts on July 21 and 252 hotspots on July 22.
NEA said its Chief Executive Officer, Ronnie Tay, wrote to his Indonesian counterpart Indonesian Deputy Minister for Environmental Degradation Control & Climate Change, Mr Arief Yuwono to register this concern.
He also called Indonesian Deputy Minister for Environment and Social Vulnerability, Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare, Mr Willem Rampangilei.
Mr Tay extended Singapore's support and assistance to Indonesia's efforts to prevent the haze from recurring.
This is in the area of early detection and the suppression of fires, as well as in offering an aircraft to assist in cloud seeding operations.
NEA said Mr Tay urged Indonesia to take immediate action and give an update of its efforts to tackle the fires.
Responding to this, Indonesia's Deputy Minister Rampangilei shared that there has been new sporadic burning.
He assured Mr Tay the Indonesian government is monitoring the situation and is taking action through cloud seeding and water bombing efforts.
NEA said it will continue to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, NEA said it has advised the interim ASEAN Coordinating Centre through the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre that Alert Level 3 for Sumatra has been activated.
- CNA/fa
Singapore registers concerns over spike in hotspots
NEA CEO writes, calls Indonesia officials
Today Online 23 Jul 13;
Daily detected hotspot count. Image: http://www.haze.gov.sg/
SINGAPORE — As the number of hotspots suddenly spiked over the last two days, the Republic today (July 22) registered its concerns with Indonesia over hotspot counts.
In a letter and call to Indonesia officials, National Environment Agency (NEA) Chief Executive Ronnie Tay raised concerns that the region would “once again be shrouded by smoke haze if the hotspots in Sumatra continue to remain high”, said the NEA in a statement.
Mr Tay also sought an “urgent update” of Indonesia’s efforts to tackle the fires and urged Indonesia to take immediate action.
Said NEA: “Mr Tay reiterated Singapore’s offer to provide support in the early detection of hotspots and suppression of fires, as well as to renew our standing offer of an aircraft to assist in cloud seeding operations.”
Yesterday and today, hotspot counts rose to 261 and 252, respectively. This is a marked increase from 159 hotspots on July 20 and 43 on July 19 and between 0 to 3 hotspots between July 14 to 18.
Yesterday, the NEA cautioned that hazy conditions may return to the Republic in the coming days, if dry weather persists in most parts of Sumatra and wind direction changes in the next two days.
Indonesian Deputy Minister for Environment and Social Vulnerability, Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare, Mr Willem Rampangilei, whom Mr Tay had called, said there has been “new sporadic burning”, said the NEA.
“He assured Mr Tay that the Indonesian government is monitoring the situation and taking various actions on the ground to suppress the fires, such as cloud seeding and water bombing efforts.”
Mr Rampangilei also said that the government has strengthened law enforcement and socialisation efforts, and the deployment of additional police and troops to the Riau area “will be considered urgently in a high level inter-agency meeting”.
The NEA said it will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with its Indonesian counterparts on the transboundary haze issue.
The NEA has also advised the interim ASEAN Coordinating Centre, through the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), that Alert Level 3 for Sumatra has been activated.
The ASMC has a regional warning system for the fire and haze situation based on three levels of alert. Alert Level 3 is activated when there are 250 hotspots or more detected on two consecutive days with dry weather conditions persisting and prevailing winds blowing towards other ASEAN countries. When Alert Level 3 is triggered, a panel of experts from the member countries may be deployed to the affected country, with the country’s consent, to assist in assessing the situation and provide their recommendations on resources that need to be mobilised to mitigate the fires and transboundary haze pollution.
Singapore is represented by experts from the SCDF in the panel and hosts the ASMC that supports the panel.