Haze a major concern for SEA Games

LOW LIN FHOONG Today Online 29 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — Haze will be a major concern for organisers of the 28th SEA Games in Singapore, particularly if conditions reach the same levels as in June 2013, when the Pollutant Standards Index hit a record high of 401 — which is considered hazardous.

To mitigate the risk of haze wreaking havoc on the June 5 to 16 Games schedule, outdoor events such as athletics’ 20km walk and marathon, and the triathlon at Orchard Road and East Coast Park have been scheduled earlier in the Games period to allow for them to be rescheduled and held later if the haze hits.

“We are very concerned because haze is an uncontrollable factor and it will affect the whole mood and sense of celebration,” said Mr Lim Teck Yin, executive committee chairman of the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) yesterday.

“It not only affects the athletes but the spectators who are exposed to the haze. Our benchmark here is to complete 75 per cent of all events if we are hit by haze to declare a successfully conducted Games. We have to work with the SEA Games Federation and technical delegates, and we have done our homework in event scheduling. In that scenario (where 75 per cent is not completed), we are left with no choice but to say the Games must conclude and we will convene in two years’ time.”

But Mr Lim said cloud seeding — a form of weather modification used for the 2008 Beijing Olympics that disperses substances into the air to increase rain — to reduce air pollution will not be used during the SEA Games. The region, particularly Malaysia and Singapore, is affected annually by the haze caused by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia, and Mr Lim said there is little they can do except to ride out the situation.

He added: “While we have some level of control over contingency planning of competition schedules, we really hope those who have a position to influence this will do the necessary.”