Singapore ready to assist Indonesia in fighting forest fires amid worsening haze

By Anas Abu Hassan

SINGAPORE : Singapore has expressed readiness to assist Indonesia in containing forest fires amid worsening haze conditions in the region.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu said she has been in touch with her Indonesian counterpart, Jumhur Hidayat, to offer support in helping the neighbouring country fight forest fires brought about by prevailing dry weather conditions across the region.

She also expressed her appreciation to Jumhur for the Indonesian minister’s effort to contain the forest fires.

“We are aware that efforts are going on. We stand ready to assist where we can.

“I am also supporting any regional efforts to have discussions on regional cooperation on haze issues,” Fu said, speaking to Singapore media today on the haze situation and whole-of-government approach to resolve the problem.

Fu stressed that Singapore needs to be prepared.

“We are on top of the situation. We have plans in place, and we will do whatever is needed to protect the public health of Singaporeans.

“The Haze Task Force has been meeting regularly. We have sufficient stock of the N95 masks and will be prepared to deploy when necessary,” she said.

The government is deeply concerned for the Singaporean population, particularly those that are more vulnerable, the seniors, the young children, pregnant women, as well as those with lung and heart conditions, she said.

Fu, who is also Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, added that the mask distribution exercise will be activated when the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) breaches 200.

Air quality remained at unhealthy levels across Singapore on Saturday. As of 12:00 pm, data from the National Environment Agency (NEA) showed a 171 24-hour PSI in the central region, 161 in the west, 154 in the east, 134 in the south, and 122 in the north.

The 24-hour PSI forms the basis of NEA’s daily health advisories, with readings of 101 to 200 classified as unhealthy, 201 to 300 as very unhealthy and those above 300 as hazardous.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) said in its daily haze outlook that moderate transboundary smoke haze continued to be observed over parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, Sarawak, and the southern parts of Sumatra.

Many air quality stations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, and Sumatra are reporting unhealthy to hazardous levels, it said. – BERNAMA