Hazy conditions expected to continue over the weekend

Channel NewsAsia 14 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE: Hazy conditions continued to affect Singapore on Friday, and air quality is likely to be in the high end of the moderate band over the weekend.

This is despite the possibility of brief showers in the late afternoons.

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) has been in the moderate range on Friday.

As of 7pm, the three-hour PSI hit 82, while the 24-hour PSI stood at 51-66. The 24-hour PM2.5 was 36-55 micrograms per cubic metre.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the haze could be attributed to the smoke from the hotspots in southern Johor, blown in by the prevailing northeasterly winds.

There were 59 hotspots detected in Peninsular Malaysia on Thursday and 35 hotspots in Sumatra.

NEA said smoke plumes and haze were visible from some of these hotspots.

Parts of Peninsular Malaysia have been experiencing air quality in the "unhealthy" to "hazardous" range on Friday.

As at 4pm, the air quality in Port Klang in Selangor was in the "hazardous" range.

NEA said the weather in Singapore is expected to be warm with hazy conditions, and brief and localised showers are expected in the late afternoon over the northern and western parts of Singapore.

On his Facebook page, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the air quality is expected to fluctuate and may even reach unhealthy levels if winds blow more haze from the hotspots in Johor.

Persons with chronic lung or heart conditions are advised to avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion.

- CNA/de

Air quality levels may hit unhealthy range this weekend
Siau Ming En Today Online 15 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE — Air quality levels here may briefly hit the unhealthy range this weekend if wind conditions bring more haze from hot spots in Johor, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said yesterday.

In its haze advisory issued yesterday, the NEA said the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) is expected to fluctuate at the high end of the moderate band. The 24-hour PM2.5 levels — which measure the concentration of particles smaller than 2.5 microns — could reach unhealthy levels at times, the agency added.

Writing on his Facebook page, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan noted that haze conditions have worsened.

“As a precaution, persons with chronic lung or heart conditions are advised to avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion. If the haze deteriorates, the general population may need to reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion,” he said.

The NEA said warm weather with hazy conditions is expected, although brief and localised showers could arrive in the late afternoon over the northern and western parts of the island.

PSI readings have been in the moderate range since Tuesday evening. As of 6pm yesterday, the 24-hour PSI level was between 52 and 67, while the 24-hour PM2.5 was between 37 and 54. The three-hour PSI climbed to 82 at 7pm yesterday before falling to 67 at 9pm. Air quality is in the moderate band when the PSI is between 51 and 100.

The NEA said the haze was a result of hot spots in southern Johor. On Thursday, 35 and 59 hot spots were detected in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia respectively.

“Smoke plumes and haze were visible from some of these hot spots,” said the NEA.

Separately, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources yesterday announced the list of six international law experts who would sit as members on the International Advisory Panel on Transboundary Pollution. The panel was set up to advise the Government on trends and developments in international law and steps Singapore can take in relation to transboundary pollution.

The panel members include Dr Abdul G Koroma, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, and Professor Edith Brown Weiss, a legal scholar who has taught and published widely on issues of international law, especially international environmental law.

The panel will be co-chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister Professor S Jayakumar and Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh.

Rain may fall over weekend due to inter-monsoonal conditions
Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 15 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE: Singapore could experience inter-monsoonal conditions from Saturday, which could mean turning a corner in what has been a record dry spell for the country.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has forecast showers over the island from Saturday till Monday in its 3-day outlook, with temperatures ranging between 24 and 32 degrees Celsius.

One expert Channel NewsAsia spoke with said the transition from the Northeast Monsoon to the Inter-monsoonal conditions could bring more variable winds, and more thunderstorms and rainfall which could last till mid-May.

"Given that the rain is generated by the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) moving northwards over the Southeast Asia region, it's likely that rainfall should occur over most parts of Southeast Asia and it would help in preventing the wildfires from expanding in size,” said Assistant Professor Winston Chow from the National University of Singapore’s geography department.

“The wildfires that we know are the primary cause of the haze that is brought into Singapore. So if there's more rain, hopefully it would stop the cause of the haze from spreading."

- CNA/ec

Bushfire at Elias Road in Pasir Ris
Channel NewsAsia 14 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE: A bushfire broke out in the eastern part of Singapore on Friday afternoon.

A caller Angela alerted Channel NewsAsia to the bushfire at Elias Road in Pasir Ris.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call about the fire at 3:45pm.

It arrived five minutes later, and extinguished the fire in half an hour, using two water jets.

SCDF said the fire was the size of about two basketball courts.

- CNA/de

Daily water usage exceeds level during haze last year
Siau Ming En Today Online 14 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE — Singapore has seen the current levels of water consumption before, but they were not sustained over a prolonged period, unlike the situation now, said Mr Chew Men Leong, Chief Executive of national water agency PUB, yesterday.

The haze currently affecting Singapore, which began earlier this year, is also a concern and PUB will have to keep tabs on water consumption patterns, he told reporters on the sidelines of a media briefing for coming events to commemorate World Water Day on Saturday.

The daily water usage in recent weeks has surpassed that seen at the height of Singapore’s worst haze episode last year.

The daily water demand in recent weeks hovers between 415 and 420 million gallons per day (mgd), higher than the average daily water consumption of 402mgd and 406mgd last June and July, respectively.

The highest water consumption level recorded during the haze episode was 422mgd on July 24. Singapore’s average daily water demand is about 400mgd, PUB said.

“We are concerned,” said Mr Chew, when asked if he expects water consumption to increase with the haze. “There could be a continuation of the dry spell. Of course, if there’s an increase in terms of the haze, we also have to see how water consumption patterns will change.”

The National Environment Agency had earlier this month said the current dry spell would last until the middle of the month.

Mr Chew added: “Occasionally, when we see dry and hot periods, we see consumption going up to about this kind of level … we have hit it before, (but) not for such a sustained period.”

Last week, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament he was seriously considering a suggestion to conduct water rationing exercises as a means of public education, even though they are not an operational necessity.

Agreeing, Mr Chew yesterday said water rationing exercises as a public education and communications tool is useful and the agency is looking into them.

He pointed out that such exercises were last conducted in the 1990s as part of efforts to prepare the public for contingencies.

For World Water Day, the agency is expecting to reach out to at least 200,000 people across more than 250 locations — the biggest outreach effort in five years, said the water agency. Other partners have also organised activities in the lead-up to the event.

A water conservation contest was held at the Haig Road Market and Food Centre on Wednesday, with stallholders submitting their utility bills to see who saved the most water.

The participants recorded total savings of about 17,000 litres of water, including 6,500 litres saved over two months by the contest winner.

Residents have also been trying to conserve water during this dry weather. A 65-year-old retiree, who only wanted to be known as Mr Goh, said he tries to water his plants once a week and uses recycled water to do so. Previously, he would water them twice a week.

The theme for this year’s World Water Day in Singapore is conservation and five key sites — Marina Barrage, Jurong Lake, Geylang River, Punggol Waterway and Yishun Pond — will be hosting various activities to spread the message.