SINGAPORE/DILI/JAKARTA, Oct 14 — Pollution readings in Singapore reached their highest level this year today while East Timor shut its schools for three days in response to intensifying smoke and haze from Indonesia's wildfires.
Singapore's 1-hour PM2.5 reading hit a high of 284 microgrammes per cubic metre in the western part of the island state, entering the National Environmental Agency's "very high" band for the first time during the current haze period.
In a statement, the East Timor government said that it is suspending face-to-face learning activities for three days starting tomorrow "due to contamination by pollutant particles from wildfires in neighbouring regions or countries".
Dili did not name Indonesia, but it shares an island with part of Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, where several hotspots have been reported.
Indonesia has been battling its most intense wildfire season in 11 years, fueled by El Nino-related dry weather conditions. The haze has caused a spike in respiratory illnesses at home and a dramatic decline in air quality across the region, with several Malaysian states also forced to shut down schools.
In October 2015, Indonesian wildfires pushed PM2.5 levels in western Singapore to a national record of 471 microgrammes per cubic metre.
According to the Environment Ministry's data, the ISPU air pollution index in Central Kalimantan today exceeded 1,200, four times the "hazardous" level of 300.
Local news footage showed thick yellow haze blanketing the city of Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan, cutting visibility for motorists to a minimum. Police officers were also seen trying to hose down peatland fires along the road.
'Treat them like an outcast'
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has ordered additional resources to be deployed to combat the wildfires.
"We are mobilising all our resources and capabilities," said Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs official Honi Havana during a med briefing today.
He added that Jakarta has deployed more than 69,000 firefighting personnel, up from around 44,000 in mid-September, and it was also testing new methods to put out fires more effectively using special chemicals.
Disaster mitigation agency spokesman Berton Panjaitan said authorities have been struggling with peatland fires, which smoulder slowly beneath the surface and can re-emerge at any time.
"We must recognise that the only way to resolve this is through sustained rainfall," he said.
As Southeast Asian foreign ministers prepare to discuss transboundary haze at an ASEAN meeting next month, criticism of Indonesia has continued to mount across the region.
Yesterday, Malaysia's Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman called on Southeast Asian nations to lodge a diplomatic protest against Jakarta for failing to do enough to control the fires.
"We must send a strong diplomatic note that Malaysia objects, and that not only Malaysia objects, it must be agreed upon by other ASEAN countries that are similarly affected, such as Singapore. We must send a very clear diplomatic protest.
"You need to treat them like an outcast in the region," he told the Dewan Rakyat, adding that Malaysian and Singaporean banks should cut off financing to companies linked to land burning.
