Indonesia fires causing unhealthy smog levels in Singapore

June 20, 2013

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SINGAPORE – Singapore on Tuesday (June 18th) pressed Indonesia to fight nearby forest fires in light of dangerous levels of smog that have drifted over from Sumatra Island, AFP reported.

People wear face masks as haze worsens in Singapore on Wednesday (June 19th). After the country's Pollutant Standards Index again shot above the "unhealthy" threshold of 100 on Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged Indonesia to address forest fires on Sumatra Island. [Roslan Rahman/AFP]

On his Facebook page, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said his foreign and environment ministers had spoken to their Indonesian counterparts to "register our serious concerns and offer our help to fight the fires. We are monitoring the situation closely and will stay in close touch with the Indonesian authorities." Accompanying his posting was a photo of the Istana government complex grounds surrounded by haze.

Singapore's Pollutant Standards Index again soared above the "unhealthy" threshold of 100 late Tuesday after easing earlier in the day.

The index had peaked at 155 on Monday night, Singapore's worst outbreak of cross-border air pollution since 2006, much of it is apparently caused by palm oil companies that burn plantation land in Indonesia.

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- kacyliu
  
  June 20, 2013 @ 01:06:28AM
- We should learn to mind our own biz for its looking quite apparent that some people think and believe that if they create enough smog to smother our environment to unhealthy levels, money will flow easily to them from our coffers. We should instead spend the money on cloud seeding to dispel this parasitic notion of these people that they can get our money without having to start another "confrontation"