Singapore slammed “shocking” statements from Indonesian officials over the haze crisis as it closed all schools and distributed protective face masks yesterday in emergency measures after the air pollution index soared to hazardous levels.
The city-state has been cloaked in smog blown in from the tinder-dry island of Sumatra for about three weeks, the worst such episode since mid-2013 in a crisis that grips the region nearly every year during the burning-off season.
The closure of primary and secondary schools, as well as government-run kindergartens, due to the haze problem is unprecedented, the Straits Times daily said as the air quality index shot up above 300, a level considered “hazardous.”
WARNING: SMOKING CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH.
Photo: Reuters
As the pollution index rose, so did tempers, with Singapore Minister of Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam speaking out against some Indonesian figures who made light of the problem, which has long strained relations among affected countries, including Malaysia.
While Jakarta says it is taking steps to deal with the problem, “at the same time, we are hearing some shocking statements made, at senior levels, from Indonesia, with a complete disregard for our people, and their own,” the minister said in a Facebook post late on Thursday.
“How is it possible for senior people in government to issue such statements, without any regard for their people, or ours, and without any embarrassment, or sense of responsibility?” he said.
Shanmugan did not identify the officials, but Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has made waves in recent weeks by repeating comments he made in March that Indonesia’s neighbors should be grateful for good air quality most of the year.
“For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us,” he said at the time.
Indonesian presidential spokesman Ari Dwipayana declined to comment on Shanmugam’s remarks, but said Indonesia’s neighbors should also take note of Jakarta’s efforts to contain the fires.
“The president has stated that all force has been mobilized, we are going all out to put out the fires by water-bombing and weather modification,” he said.
“The president has also directly visited the impacted area, and this shows how serious we are in handling the forest fires and haze,” he said, referring to Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s trip to smog-choked areas on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said that offices would remain open yesterday, but that face masks would be distributed at community centers across the city-state for needy and elderly citizens.
The haze conditions improved somewhat throughout the day, below the level considered hazardous and into the high end of the “very unhealthy” range.
Lee said that Singapore has offered Indonesia help in putting out the fires “and asked them to share with us the identity of companies responsible for causing the haze.”
Indonesia has previously said that Singapore-based companies were among those responsible for the blazes, caused by smallholders and agricultural companies using burning as a method to clear land for plantations during summer.
Under pressure from its neighbors to stop the annual haze, Widodo has pledged to crack down on companies and individuals behind the burnings.
About 3,000 troops and police have been sent to Sumatra to fight the fires, with Indonesian authorities saying last week it would take a month to bring them under control.
Indonesian Ministry of the Environment spokesman Eka W. Sugiri said a total 25 air aircraft have been deployed to fight the fires through water-bombing and chemically inducing rainfall.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in