By Ion Danker – October 19th, 2010
The National Environment Agency (NEA) says the prevailing southwesterly winds have brought in some smoke haze to Singapore from the fires in Sumatra.
A statement from the NEA said that the 24-hour PSI at 4pm was 56, in the ‘moderate’ range, but rose to 84 at 8pm.
The 24-hr PSI is a measure of the air quality over a period of 24 hours. It is updated at 4pm daily while the 3-hr PSI reading is a measure of the air quality over a period 3 hours. It is updated on the hour. A PSI reading of above 100 is considered unhealthy.
NEA added that the latest satellite pass detected 202 hotspots in Sumatra, mainly in the provinces of South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau.
“The winds are expected to remain southwesterly to westerly over the next two days, and showers with thunder are expected in the late morning and afternoon tomorrow.”
“The showers should help to mitigate some of the smoke haze, but there is still a possibility that some slight haziness may remain tomorrow and the next two days,” said the NEA.
Some people Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were concerned about the haze situation.
Said private tutor Michelle Soh, 28, “The smell of smoke was very strong today and hopefully, it will be better tomorrow as I am concerned for my kids.”
Office assistant, Yvonne Chan, 30, added, “I thought the haze was gone for good but looks like the authorities really need to speak to our Indonesian friends to make sure something is done to curb this.”
NEA said it is monitoring the smoke haze situation closely and will provide updates should the air quality deteriorate.
The public may also call NEA call centre at 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255 632) or access www.nea.gov.sg for any feedback or update on the situation.
