Singapore urges Asean to act on haze
A woman takes a photo from a building of the thick haze, believed to be from Indonesia’s forest fires, engulfing the city of Davao on October 23, 2015. Smog from the fires on Sumatra island and the Indonesian section of Borneo island has begun wafting over to the major southern Philippine island of Mindanao, more than 1,200 kilometers away, wreaking havoc on Philippine air traffic, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said October 23. AFP PHOTO / Dennis Jay Santos
Singapore on Sunday urged fellow ASEAN members to take “firm and decisive action” against the lethal haze still spreading across the region ahead of a group summit in Malaysia next month.
The city-state, one of the most badly affected by recurring smog from land fires in Indonesia, issued the call after Singaporean troops and firefighters returned from an international assistance mission in Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
“ASEAN must take firm and decisive action, through enhanced regional cooperation, to help prevent the recurrence of this transboundary problem,” Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
“Singapore will work closely with other ASEAN countries to fully operationalize the ASEAN Haze Monitoring System, and other cooperative initiatives,” it said.
The haze has killed at least 10 in Indonesia and caused respiratory illnesses in half a million, Jakarta authorities said, while winds have carried the smoke into Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines this year.
