Haze in Singapore

Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. Haze often occurs when dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat. Recently, the haze is back and it is causing much physical discomfort to many people.

The cause of haze may be due to natural forest fire, a huge fire broke-out (accident) or land-clearing by burning and volcano eruption. The cause of this haze is due to forest-clearing by fire in Indonesia. The haze came less than a week after an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Brunei on how to deal with the problem. This shows that the problem of haze is serious and frequent hence must be solved as soon as possible.

Who should we blame for the cause of the frequent haze? The government, the farmers or the developers? I believe all of them play a part. The Indonesia government has prohibited land-clearing by fire however, this ban is obviously turned onto deaf ears as farmers and developers continued on their “burning-spree”, resulting in the recent haze. This shows that there is weak law enforcement since farmers and developers repeatedly commit the following offence in spite knowing it is illegal.

Singapore and Malaysia were gravely affected by the haze. Schools in Malaysia had to close and cases of respiratory problems including asthma had increased significantly in Singapore as the PSI went over 100. The air quality in the past week has been the worst since 2006.

Singapore's inter-agency Haze Task Force - comprising representatives from government agencies and chaired by NEA - has also drawn up a set of action plans to mitigate the haze impact. The Haze Action Plan spells out the measures that each agency would take to minimize the impact of the haze on the public at different levels of PSI.

I feel that the Indonesia government should equip the farmers with knowledge about the detrimental side-effects that land-clearing by fire brings about. This way, they would understand why the government has create a law to prohibit the following and why they should not use this method to clear land despite of its advantages of being fast and inexpensive. Also, the Indonesia government can provide loans and incentives to encourage farmers to use the more appropriate method to clear lands.

Pollution knows no boundaries. Despite the source of haze is from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are negatively affected as well. The different countries should work together and come up with an effective solution soon, so as to prevent further pollution of the Mother Nature. I hope the farmers will learn to spare a thought for others and the environment too as everyone plays a part in protecting the world.

Credits:

(News Source)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1088509/1/.html

www.wikipedia.org

            

Done By: Kwek Wan Ling

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