Environment

Singapore’s skies were clearer Friday and air quality improved as smog from Indonesian forest fires drifted away, easing fears that this weekend’s Formula One race may be affected. Raging blazes in Indonesia have been spewing toxic haze over neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, with Jakarta deploying security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle them. The Indonesian fires are an annual problem …

A Parliamentary question by Workers’ Party (WP)’s Member of Parliament Leon Perera regarding Singapore sovereign wealth funds GIC and Temasek Holdings’ possible investments in haze-linked companies was highlighted by the party’s unofficial support Facebook page One WP, One SG on Wed (18 Sep). Over three years ago, Perera asked Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat if the Government was involved in …

Thousands of schools were shuttered across Malaysia and Indonesia Thursday, affecting at least 1.7 million pupils, officials said, as toxic haze from rampant forest fires sent air quality plummeting. Nearly 2,500 schools were ordered to shut their doors in Malaysia — including nearly 300 in the smog-hit capital Kuala Lumpur — over soaring health concerns sparked by toxic haze from …

In order to effectively tackle the haze problem that plagues Singapore annually, the government should target its efforts at Indonesia’s provincial administrations instead of continuing to engage the Central government, said People’s Voice Party (PVP) chief Lim Tean last Sun (15 Sep). In his rebuttal of claims from “many netizens” suggesting that there is nothing that Singapore can do about …

Massive forest fires in Indonesia that have caused a toxic haze to spread as far as Singapore and peninsular Malaysia are also seriously affecting endangered orangutans and their habitat, a rescue foundation said Tuesday. Jakarta has deployed thousands of troops as temporary fireman and deployed dozens of water-bombing aircraft to battle blazes that are turning pristine forest into charred landscape …

by Sam Reeves Toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires closed thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia Wednesday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city’s Formula One motor race. Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces …

Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to a hard-hit area Tuesday. Forest fires are raging on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, sending a choking fug across the region — including towards neighbours Malaysia and Singapore. During a visit to Riau …

Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations. Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut …

Thousands of Indonesian firefighters are locked in an around-the-clock game of Whack-a-Mole as they battle to extinguish an invisible enemy — underground fires that aggravate global warming. Vast blazes are ripping across the archipelago’s rainforests, unleashing a toxic haze over Southeast Asia that has triggered health fears and sent diplomatic tensions with Indonesia’s neighbours soaring. Jakarta deployed more than 9,000 …

Pollution from forest fires in Indonesia pushed Singapore’s air quality to unhealthy levels for the first time in three years Saturday, the government said, a week ahead of the Formula One night race. The toxic smoke caused by burning to clear land for plantations is an annual problem for Indonesia’s neighbours but has been worsened this year by particularly dry …