HAZE PROBLEM

The following Question stood in the name of Dr John Chen Seow Phun -

Dr John Chen Seow Phun: To ask the Minister for the Environment if he will give an update on the haze problem and how it will be dealt with in the future.

Dr Vasoo: Question No. 11, Sir.

The Minister for the Environment (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, the current haze problem is caused by smoke from massive forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Most of the time, the effect on our air quality has been moderate. In other words, the Pollutants Standard Index (PSI) readings have been between 50 and 100, which is considered acceptable.

However, our air quality deteriorated to PSI levels of between 100 and 200 on several days. This level is considered "unhealthful". It is a term which is coined by the experts who have set up the PSI index as being "unhealthful" as opposed to "unhealthy". Medical experts advise that normal activities can continue at this level of air quality although persons with heart and respiratory ailments need to observe some precautions such as reducing physical exertion and outdoor activity.

In case the PSI levels deteriorate further beyond the 200 level and go into a hazardous level, a Haze Task Force was set up to coordinate measures to help the public cope with such an eventuality. So far, there has been no indication that this situation will develop.

The haze situation has improved. We can expect the haze conditions to vary, thinning on some days and returning on other days until the onset of the north-east monsoon which comes normally in early November. The north-east monsoon will blow the haze away from Singapore.

Plans to control future occurrences of haze were discussed between Singapore and Indonesia in the last few weeks.

Indonesia has identified the causes of the haze and has mapped out a series of preventive measures that they will take. The focus will be on implementing measures to prevent future forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. The scale and nature of their forests is such that these fires, if they are allowed to start, will spread quickly, especially during the dry season, and will be very difficult to put out.

The Indonesian Authority for Pollution Control (BAPEDAL) has been tasked with the prevention and control of forest fires and will coordinate implementation of control measures through the various agencies, including the Indonesian Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Transmigration.

Singapore will work with Indonesia by providing information from weather satellites on the location of forest fires. Such information will be useful in early detection of fires and in the deployment of resources to fight the fires and prevent their spread.

The problem of the forest fires is both complex and massive. While it is not possible to totally prevent forest fires in the short term, the measures described above, when implemented on a sustained basis, will help to minimise forest fires and their impact.

Singapore will cooperate closely with Indonesia on the haze as well as other environmental issues of common concern. In this regard, I will be meeting the Indonesian Minister for the Environment annually to review progress on these issues. The next meeting will be held in Indonesia early next year.

At the multilateral level, the ASEAN Ministers for the Environment had, at a recent meeting in Kuching, agreed on setting up a Regional Early Warning and Response System to enhance capabilities of member countries to cope with forest fires and the haze that is caused by such fires.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Sir, does the Minister feel confident that Singapore has all the advanced equipment to detect pollution from forest fires, for example, the laser sensor photo technology-type of equipment?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The equipment that the Member mentioned is currently available. But the Meteorological Service is currently sourcing for additional equipment which will enhance their capability to have a clearer idea of the specific location of the fires.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Sir, what I would like to ask the Minister is not the location of fires but the detection of pollution in Singapore. Are we confident that we have the latest equipment to detect early pollution?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Yes, the answer is that we have equipment now located in various places around Singapore to detect pollution in our air. The air quality index, or the Pollutants Standard Index that I mentioned earlier, is a result of such monitoring equipment. It monitors not only the particulates in the air which are the current cause of the haze but also other pollutants in the air, including sulphur dioxide, NOX emission, etc. So the PSI is actually a conglomerate of all these various other pollutants that are sensed by the equipment.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, the Minister said that stopping the forest fire is a complex problem in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Does it mean that the Minister does not know whether the forest fires were started accidentally, or otherwise?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: I did not say that at all, Sir. I simply said that the forest fires are a complex issue. Whether they were started accidentally or not is a separate matter entirely. But having said that, I can tell the House that the Indonesian authorities have informed us about the various causes of the fire, including fires caused by land clearance, the practice of shifting cultivation, the so-called slash and burn method of cultivation, as well as by spontaneous ignition of coal and peat fields in those areas, and these are fires which have been smouldering for years in some cases. It is a combination, or a confluence, of all these various causes that have created the current haze problem plus the fact that the wind directions have resulted in a concentration of the haze in this area. But it is a complex issue and I do not wish to give a wrong impression that the fires can be prevented in the short term. And this is the reason why I caution Singaporeans not to expect that there will be a reprieve in the short term.

Why do I say that it is complex? Based on the figures that the Indonesians have given us, some of the fires are burning over an area as large as 500,000 hectares of land. That is a lot of forest. As a matter of comparison, it is roughly about eight to 10 times the size of Singapore and this is why we have asked for further information and whether we could be allowed to give assistance in satellite photography and other means to help them to detect the fires.

Dr Lau Teik Soon: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister the extent of assistance which the Government will provide the Indonesian Government to tackle the problem.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, in so far as actual putting out of the fire is concerned, there is very little that we can do. We did agree that the best solution is to prevent the fire from starting in the first place. And it is in this area that Singapore feels that it can make a meaningful contribution, ie, in the area of providing information, in the area of setting up, together with our ASEAN partners, an early warning system and we will contribute our expertise in the meteorological services, in the satellite information technology.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Sir, would the Minister consider financial assistance? Would that be accepted? Or does he think it is not a wise thing to offer financial assistance?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, it is not a question of money. If the measures to prevent the fires can be successful, I do not see any reason why not, and if they are implemented on a sustained basis, then the question of money does not come in at all.