Haze pollution level hits hazardous level in Singapore | GlobalPost
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The smoke haze pollution level in Singapore reached a hazardous level on Wednesday night, according to the National Environment Agency’s update.
The Pollutant Standard Index continued to rise on Wednesday, crossing beyond the 300 level, which is considered hazardous to human health, the NEA reported on its website.
The PSI level is a record high in Singapore, surpassing the worst smog reading of 226, during the 1997 smoke haze pollution crisis.
Singapore has blamed forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia for the haze pollution.
The Indonesian government said Wednesday it has taken necessary measures to deal with forest fires causing haze that has enveloped Malaysia and Singapore, and it “does not need” any reminder from neighboring countries to act against those responsible for the haze.
Indonesia made the statement in a response to Singaporean Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s call on Indonesia to provide data on companies causing the haze and concession maps to take action against plantation firms practicing slash-and-burn farming.
“We, Indonesia itself — its government and its people — wish for those who are responsible to be held accountable,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told a press conference.
“In other words, there is actually no need for such a reminder and on the contrary…we are in full knowledge of the type of impacts and consequences and the need for actions to ensure those, who are held accountable, are held accountable,” he added.
Natalegawa stressed that for now, however, the first priority is to put the fires out to ensure the situation is brought under control.
He said the Indonesian government has taken preventive measures and therefore it is trying to assert exactly what had caused the latest haze, which according to Singapore’s pollutant standards index is the worst since the 1997 regional haze crisis.
Related ministries, according to Natalegawa, have also taken some necessary measures to deal with the haze problem.
The measures taken, he said, will be announced at the “right time.”
A technical meeting between Indonesian and Singaporean officials is scheduled for Thursday during which Indonesia will share information on what it has been doing and listen to concerns from Singapore.
On Tuesday, on his Facebook account, Balakrishnan said he had expressed “our deep distress” with the haze crisis to his Indonesian counterpart Balthasar Kambuaya and that the situation “has practically become a permanent fixture every year.”
“I suggested Minister Kambuaya name the companies responsible for the fires — as I am sure consumers will know what to do,” he said. “We are also waiting for Indonesia to publish the concession maps. The combination of satellite photos, which are updated daily, and these concession maps would enable us to pinpoint the errant companies.”
Parts of Malaysia, including Melaka and Selangor, also reported “unhealthy” pollutant levels.
A map on the website of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Specialized Meteorological Center showed many scattered satellite-detected hotspots with localized smoke plumes in the central part of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.
According to the regional haze map, moderate to dense smoke haze was detected over Riau Province and spreading across the Malacca Straits.
The latest observation by the Jakarta-based Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysical Agency showed 187 hotspots in Riau on Wednesday, a significant increase compared to the previous day in which only 115 hotspots were detected.
==Kyodo
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130619/haze-pollution-level-hits-hazardous-level-singapore
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Haze pollution level hits hazardous level in Singapore
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