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Schools shut as thick smoky haze covers Singapore

Friday, 25 September 2015 5:47 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 25 September 2015 5:46 AM ]

Haze created by forest fires in Indonesia blankets Singapore’s Fullerton Hotel with thick smog, September 24, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Schools have been shut in Singapore and free masks are being distributed as the island-country grapples with thick smoky haze and high levels of pollution.

Officials ordered all primary and secondary schools to be closed on Friday while the vulnerable were directed to the community centers across the island where they could receive free masks.

Volunteers also went house to house to o give out the masks to those unable to come to the centers.

The fog-resembling haze, a pall of grayness that obliterates the skyline and seeps inside homes, emerges each year as forests in neighboring Indonesia are burned for farming and plantations. The smoke poses serious health hazards to children and the elderly and those with breathing problems.

Relations getting hazy

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures air pollution in the country, hit the highest recorded since the start of 2015 on Friday for a three-hour period.

The haze has also caused tensions between Singapore and Indonesia, with Singapore’s Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam accusing Indonesian officials of having no regard for the health of the people in the two countries.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said recently that neighboring countries “already enjoy 11 months of clean fresh air from Indonesia,” and that it won’t be a big deal if they cope with the haze for just one month.

An Indonesian firefighter surveys burning peat land in the Kapuas district in Central Kalimantan Province on Borneo Island, September 24, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Shanmugam reacted by saying that Singapore is “ready to assist Indonesia in combating the fires,” but he said his government “takes the matter seriously.”

“Yet, at the same time, we are hearing some shocking statements made, at senior levels, from Indonesia, with a complete disregard for our people, and their own,” he said, adding, “How is it possible for senior people in government to issue such statements, without any regard for their people, or ours, and without any embarrassment, or sense of responsibility?”

Indonesia has already suspended or revoked the licenses of four plantation companies for their illegal clearing of land and sparking forest fires. Some 27 other companies, including a Singaporean one, and 140 individuals are being investigated in the case.

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