Singapore Meeting Will Discuss Transboundary Haze Key Issues

People watch the sun set from the observatory deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore during haze session.

Singapore, 26 Rajab 1437/04 May 2016 (MINA) – Implementation of the ASEAN Sub-Regional Haze Monitoring System, is one of the key issues that will be discussed at the 18th Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution here on Wednesday.

Singapore Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources said that other related key issues to be discussed included mobilisation of international assistance to support fire-fighting efforts and exchange of information among countries.

Environment and Water Resources Minister, Masagos Zulkifli, will chair the meeting, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement also said that the Ministerial-level MSC, comprising Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, will continue to review and enhance cooperative measures to monitor, prevent and mitigate smoke haze arising from land and forest fires in the five countries.

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Forest fires in Indonesia have resulted in a smoky haze blanketing the South East Asian region for months. Both the haze and the controversy around it have intensified in recent years.

In the meantime Indonesian authorities continue to struggle to put out the fires, many of which have flared up on flammable and dry peat-rich areas.

A peat fire is difficult to put out as it can burn underground for months, and requires a lot of water to extinguish. Fires can spread underground and spring up in other places later. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)