Haze set to persist for next few days: Balakrishnan
Minister of Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the haze is set to persist over the next few days, and whether a stop-work order will be issued will depend on the severity of the haze conditions.
Dr Balakrishnan was responding to questions from reporters on whether such an order was imminent, after the PSI hit hazardous levels on Wednesday night.
He said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has guidelines in place which all employers adhere to, and the MOM will give an update on Thursday.
Dr Balakrishnan said NEA's CEO Andrew Tan will be leading a Singapore team to Jakarta to attend an emergency haze meeting convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia.
He said Singapore expects to reach further agreement on concrete steps to tackle the haze, which it hopes the Indonesians will take.
A news briefing was called late on Wednesday after the PSI hit a record high of 321 at 10pm.
The PSI had been climbing all day on Wednesday, staying within the unhealthy range.
It has since dipped to 218 at midnight, and 195 at 1am on Thursday.
Dr Balakrishnan noted that this is the worst haze that Singapore has faced.
He said Singaporeans must not be too fixated with the PSI data.
Still, sports facilities and schools may be closed if needed.
He added that it's the mid-year school holidays now, so there's no urgent need to make that call now.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said dry weather conditions and prevailing winds blowing the haze into Singapore are expected to persist for the next few days.
Dr Balakrishnan said Singaporeans may need to make adjustments to their daily routines.
He said those with respiratory and cardiac problems and children should not exert themselves.
He noted that the only real solution is to deal with the source of the problem, which is the indiscriminate burning of land in Indonesia.
Singapore has urged Indonesia to take action to tackle the haze problem, and has also offered to help.
Dr Balakrishnan said Indonesia must stop new fires.
"We are publishing the high-resolution satellite pictures, including the coordinates of all hotspots, and NEA is going to update this on a daily basis. We are still urging the Indonesian authorities to publish the concession maps so that we can link the hotspots specifically to the individual companies," he said.
~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~
Minister of Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said the haze is set to persist over the next few days, and whether a stop-work order will be issued will depend on the severity of the haze conditions.
Dr Balakrishnan was responding to questions from reporters on whether such an order was imminent, after the PSI hit hazardous levels on Wednesday night.
He said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has guidelines in place which all employers adhere to, and the MOM will give an update on Thursday.
Dr Balakrishnan said NEA's CEO Andrew Tan will be leading a Singapore team to Jakarta to attend an emergency haze meeting convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia.
He said Singapore expects to reach further agreement on concrete steps to tackle the haze, which it hopes the Indonesians will take.
A news briefing was called late on Wednesday after the PSI hit a record high of 321 at 10pm.
The PSI had been climbing all day on Wednesday, staying within the unhealthy range.
It has since dipped to 218 at midnight, and 195 at 1am on Thursday.
Dr Balakrishnan noted that this is the worst haze that Singapore has faced.
He said Singaporeans must not be too fixated with the PSI data.
Still, sports facilities and schools may be closed if needed.
He added that it's the mid-year school holidays now, so there's no urgent need to make that call now.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said dry weather conditions and prevailing winds blowing the haze into Singapore are expected to persist for the next few days.
Dr Balakrishnan said Singaporeans may need to make adjustments to their daily routines.
He said those with respiratory and cardiac problems and children should not exert themselves.
He noted that the only real solution is to deal with the source of the problem, which is the indiscriminate burning of land in Indonesia.
Singapore has urged Indonesia to take action to tackle the haze problem, and has also offered to help.
Dr Balakrishnan said Indonesia must stop new fires.
"We are publishing the high-resolution satellite pictures, including the coordinates of all hotspots, and NEA is going to update this on a daily basis. We are still urging the Indonesian authorities to publish the concession maps so that we can link the hotspots specifically to the individual companies," he said.
~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~
