Singapore has been covered by haze since late June of 2015. It is being reported that the haze is arising from several hotspots in Indonesia, Kalimantan Region where 112 hotspots were found in Sumatra. According to the National Environmental Agency the Pollution Standard Index had reached a dangerous level of 365 PSI on September 26th of 2015.
In 1997 the Southeast Asian haze has affected many countries in the region, since then it has been a recurrent feature, affecting citizens of Singapore. The government of Indonesia is creating man made forest fires to the dense forests of Sumatra, trees are being burned in order to build new housing for the citizens. in the persistent haze is equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes. In the past, during the 1997 fires, the haze had impacted approximately 20 million people living in Indonesia.
Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister of Singapore, has made many attempts to find solutions for Singapore; one of which is cloud seeding, which was successful causing it to clear most of the haze.
On the 25th of September 2015. All schools in Singapore were confirmed closed, because the haze exceeded the MOE policy. In addition most of the Grade 6 and 7 trips were cancelled, due to the haze exceeding the PSI level of 300. Furthermore there were many sport games closure, due to the haze.
While current thunderstorms and rains have improved the current situation in Singapore. The Singapore government has sent a lot of jets to fly over the forest fires to reduce the conditions of the haze.
If the haze continued to persist, citizens will have to relocate to different countries. According to the Indonesian weather agency, the haze has been predicted to lessen during the month of November.
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