Haze worsens in Singapore, PSI reading hits 126

Channel News Asia
07 October 2006 1945 hrs

SINGAPORE : The air quality in Singapore plunged back to unhealthy level in the evening as raging bush and forest fires in Indonesia continued to send thicker and thicker smoke around the region.

At 7pm, the pollutant standards index (PSI) was recorded at 126.

The highest PSI reading for the year was 130 at 10am on Saturday morning, and the all-time high was 226 in 1997.

The 3-hour PSI reading first entered the unhealthy range at 8am on Saturday morning, with a PSI reading of 101.

It recovered to moderate levels in the early afternoon but fell back later in the day.

The latest satellite pictures showed there were 506 hotspots and thick smoke haze in Sumatra, mainly in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, and winds blowing in a southerly to southwesterly direction had brought smoke haze from southern Sumatra to Singapore.

NEA added that the prevailing winds are also transporting the smoke haze towards the Malacca Straits and Peninsular Malaysia.

"The prevailing winds are transporting the smoke haze towards the Malacca Straits, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore," the agency said.

The Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday also reported unhealthy air levels, while flights were disrupted in the country's Sarawak province on Borneo island.

A spokesman for Singapore's Changi Airport on Saturday said the haze had not affected operations at the regional aviation hub.

Hundreds of firefighters in Indonesian Borneo, aided by police and volunteers, were Friday dousing illegal forest fires causing acrid haze that blanketed western parts of the island, officials in the neighbouring country said.

Indonesia's annual burn-off causes a haze that typically smothers parts of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as well as Indonesia itself.

The NEA advises people with existing heart or respiratory ailments to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activity. - CNA