Singapore remained covered with haze for a second day as the city’s air quality stayed in the unhealthy range after reaching the level yesterday afternoon.
The three-hour pollutant standards index, or PSI, was at 111 as of 9 a.m. local time, after peaking at 127 at 9 p.m. yesterday, according to the National Environment Agency.
A level exceeding 100 is considered unhealthy, with the government discouraging outdoor physical activities.
“Drier weather in South Sumatra in the past two days has led to a sharp increase in the number of hotspots there,” the agency said on its website yesterday. The hazy conditions are expected to persist today, it said. The city-state detected 205 so-called hotspots in Indonesia yesterday, usually signs of forest fires.
Singapore and Malaysia have been plagued for decades by periodic haze caused by clouds of ash from the fires in neighboring Indonesia. The blazes are often started to clear land for plantations in the world’s largest producer of the edible oil from palm trees.
In September, Indonesia ratified a regional haze pact it signed 12 years ago, an effort to stem illegal burning blamed for pollution that hit record levels in Singapore last year.
Singapore in August passed a bill that carries fines of as much as S$2 million ($1.6 million) for foreign companies for illegal emissions.
