Singapore’s haze could reach the hazardous range in the coming weeks, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu warned on Friday, 16 October, the first such warning this year. Saturday’s 24-hour PSI forecast from the National Environment Agency is 150 to 230, spanning the Unhealthy and Very Unhealthy bands.
The hazardous range starts above a PSI of 300. The haze could last another three to four weeks, until the inter-monsoon period at the end of October or in early November brings lighter winds that are less likely to carry smoke from Sumatra and Kalimantan. The northeast monsoon, from early December, is expected to push the haze away from Singapore.
Friday’s high, Saturday’s readings
Central Singapore crossed into the Very Unhealthy band at midnight on Friday and stayed there all day. Its 24-hour PSI peaked at 229 at 3pm and 4pm, the highest reading this year, with the east and west both at 205. By 11pm the central reading had eased to 212.
At 5am on Saturday, every region was back under 200: central 194, west 185, east 179, south 164 and north 145. The 1-hour PM2.5 readings were in Band 2, the second of four bands, across the island, highest in the east at 114 µg/m³, then central at 108, west at 101, south at 87 and north at 80.
NEA’s advice for Saturday is pegged to the top of the forecast range. Healthy people should avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor exertion. The elderly, pregnant women and children should minimise outdoor activity, and people with chronic lung or heart disease should avoid it.
Seven firms served under the haze law
NEA is serving preventive measure notices under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to seven companies whose land in Indonesia it has linked to fires behind the haze: PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT SBA Wood Industries, PT Hutan Lestari Raya and PT Bangkanesia.
The firms are located in Sumatra and were traced to the haze episodes of 8 and 9 October through satellite imagery and weather data on hotspots and smoke plumes. Each notice requires the company to deploy firefighters to put out or contain fires on its land, stop or not start any burning there, and submit plans to NEA to extinguish the fires and prevent a repeat.
The Act, passed in 2014, allows a fine of up to S$100,000 for each day of haze pollution in Singapore, capped at S$2 million. NEA will serve notices on more companies and consider other measures under the Act if it finds further links. Singapore has also offered Indonesia civilian help with firefighting and cloud seeding, and had no reply by Friday evening.
Masks and the two readings
Mask vending machines were to be fully deployed by Friday night. One in 10 eligible residents had collected their free N95 masks by Friday, and retailers’ warehouses and the national stockpile hold enough masks to restock shops that run short.
