Best of our wild blogs: 9 Jan 19

Video: Conserving Singapore's wildlife in an urban landscape
Channel NewsAsia

Hazy figures cloud Indonesia’s peat restoration as fire season looms
mongabay.com

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Singapore’s greenhouse gas emissions top 50m tonnes: Report

NEO CHAI CHIN Today Online 8 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE — Singapore generated more than 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2014, the bulk of it from the burning of fossil fuels to generate energy for industries, buildings, households and transportation.

The figure, which is the latest available, was published online last week in a biennial report that the Government submitted to the United Nations on Dec 27.

The 50.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gases generated in 2014 is an increase of 4.8 per cent from about 48.6 million tonnes generated in 2012.

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Shell fined S$400,000 for Pulau Bukom fire that injured 6 workers

Channel NewsAsia 8 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: Oil giant Shell has been fined S$400,000 for a fire which broke out at a petroleum refinery on Pulau Bukom in 2015, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Tuesday (Jan 8).

The fire left six workers injured, including two with critical injuries after they suffered 50 per cent and 70 per cent burns.

On Aug 21, 2015, two groups of workers were simultaneously conducting maintenance and project works on a crude distillation unit at the refinery, said the ministry.

The first group was carrying out hot works on a scaffold. This included the use of a blow-cutting torch from an oxy-acetylene cylinder to cut and dismantle existing pipes.

The other group was carrying out cold works along a hydrocarbon solvent line on the ground. This involved removing a joint connection to a valve as well as connecting a hose to the valve to drain out residual flammable hydrocarbons inside the pipeline into a nearby pit.

"When one of the workers opened the valve to start the draining process, flammable vapours from the draining of hydrocarbons came into contact with the sparks from the hot works," said MOM.

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Indonesia: Toba Lake hills prone to landslides due to alleged illegal logging - Walhi

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post 8 Jan 19;

Debris from the landslides feared to have been caused by illegal logging practices have for several times covered Siduadua Bridge on the Trans Sumatra highway in Sibaganding subdistrict, Simalungun regency, North Sumatra.

For almost three weeks since Dec. 18 last year, when the first landslide hit, the traffic on the bridge that connects Pematang Siantar and the renowned tourist resort Lake Toba was disturbed by the debris, forcing thousands of travelers to seek for alternative routes by crossing the lake.

Only since Sunday that the traffic has returned to normal again after a joint team cleared the debris that amounted to over 100 tons in weight.

Executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s (Walhi) North Sumatra branch, Dana Prima Tarigan, said that landslide remained a major threat to the forest area around Lake Toba hills due to rampant illegal logging practices.

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