Environment Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore is ready to assist Indonesia to cope with the forest fires and tackle the haze.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a community event Tuesday.
“We have a team on standby to help with putting out fires or even with cloud seeding, as well as technical assistance. But really it depends on whether the Indonesians request or require our assistance. We’ll just put ourselves on standby,” said Dr Balakrishnan.
Singapore had written to Indonesia as early as last month to register its concerns on the transboundary haze situation arising from land and forest fires in Sumatra.
Dr Balakrishnan wrote to his Indonesian counterpart, Prof Dr Gusti Muhammad Hatta in August 2011 to register the concerns.
Dr Balakrishnan stressed the need for immediate measures to curb the haze.
He also reiterated Singapore’s willingness to support Indonesia’s efforts to combat the haze problem.
On Tuesday, Singapore Environment Ministry officials also raised concerns on the situation at the 22nd Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment, held in Brunei.
Other ASEAN countries similarly affected by the smoke haze, also highlighted concerns and stressed the importance of curbing land and forest fires in the region.
Noting that the hotspots count had remained high in the past weeks, member states were urged to be more vigilant during this dry season to prevent the haze situation from deteriorating further.
In Singapore, the 24-hr PSI at 4pm on Tuesday was 57 as compared to 62 at 4pm on Monday.
The 3-hour PSI at 9pm on Tuesday was 29.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the improvement was due to a change in the direction of winds over Singapore overnight, from south-southwesterly to southeasterly.
Showers over some parts of southern Sumatra on Monday also helped to mitigate the hotspot situation slightly.
The number of hotspots detected in Sumatra over the past few days has also gone down - from 691 on Friday to 205 on Saturday and 204 on Sunday.
For the rest of this week, the winds are expected to continue blowing from the southeast and this will help keep the haze away from Singapore.
NEA said next week, the winds are forecast to blow mainly from the southeast and occasionally from the southwest.
Generally dry weather conditions can also be expected in Sumatra and Singapore could still be affected by haze for a few days.
Information on the hotspot and haze situation over the region is available here.
While there is no cause for concern, those with existing heart or respiratory ailments should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activity.
Persons who feel unwell are also advised to consult their doctors.
NEA will issue the relevant health advisories when air quality reaches unhealthy levels.
More information on health advisories can be found on the NEA website.
