SINGAPORE: Seven Indonesian companies are to be sent notices by the Singapore environment agency to put out forest fires that have contributed to worsening air quality caused by smoke pollution from transboundary haze.
The island republic's environment minister, Grace Fu, said the notices would be issued following investigations into errant companies found responsible for causing transboundary haze in Singapore.
"Our investigation so far suggested that some of the haze experienced in Singapore originated from fires on the lands of seven companies in Indonesia. Where warranted, we will take further action under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act based on the information and evidence available," she said at a press conference today.
Fu said the notices seek the companies to deploy firefighting personnel to extinguish fires on land owned or occupied by them and prevent the fires from spreading. They are also required to discontinue or not commence any burning activities and submit action plans detailing measures to extinguish fires on their land and prevent their recurrence.
The minister said the haze conditions in Singapore were expected to persist for some time with air quality likely to fluctuate and potentially reach hazardous levels.
"However, as we transition to the inter-monsoon period towards the end of October or early November, we expect the situation to improve and that is another three to four weeks away. We expect winds around Singapore to become lighter then and more variable in direction, so it is less likely to bring haze from Sumatra or Kalimantan to Singapore," she added.
As of 7pm on Friday, the 24-hour rolling average air pollution index continued to deteriorate with three regions recording very unhealthy air quality at 225 in the central region, 202 in the west, 201 in the east, 183 in the south and 161 in the north.
Fu said the distribution of N95 masks to vulnerable Singaporeans through 37 vending machines will be fully deployed across the island tonight. Sufficient stocks were available at retailers' warehouses and in government stockpiles, she said.
The Asean haze monitoring centre said scattered hotspots were detected in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra, while few isolated hotspots were detected elsewhere.
Moderate to dense smoke haze was observed over parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and western Sarawak. Moderate to dense smoke haze was also observed over Papua, Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands and the eastern parts of Sabah.
Air quality stations in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia recorded unhealthy to very unhealthy levels, while air quality stations in Borneo and Sumatra reported unhealthy to hazardous levels.