SINGAPORE — The Government will implement contingency plans such as closing schools and sports complex, if necessary, and the Ministry of Manpower may issue stop-work orders depending on the seriousness of the haze situation, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishan tonight (June 19).

The Government has convened a taskforce of 23 agencies to deal with the situation and draw up contingency plans.

The Government will also be publishing high-resolution pictures of all hotspots at Sumatra, which the National Environment Agency (NEA) will link to specific companies, said Dr Balakrishban. 

This, he said, would “allow us to take commercial action against companies”.

Dr Balakrishnan was speaking to the media at a press conference called after Singapore’s air quality reached “hazardous” levels. At 10pm, the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading spiked to 321.

A delegation will also be attending an emergency haze meeting at Jakarta soon.

 Noting that “concrete action” is what’s needed, the real solution is to stop fires in Sumatra, said Dr Balakrishnan. 

Singapore does not have enough clouds to successfully execute cloud-seeding, he added.

The minister said the haze is expected to worsen overnight due to a high number of hotspots in Sumatra, and that things would get worse before they get better. 

Only rain and sudden wind changes will improve the situation, but the chances of it happening are slim, he said.

He expects tomorrow’s (June 20) 24-hour PSI to go beyond 200.

This is the worst haze Singaporeans have seen and adjustments in our daily lives must be made, added Dr Balakrishnan.

Responding to a question on the PSI reading, Dr Balakrishnan said: "We must not get fixated on numbers and focus on improving the situation first." 

The NEA will be completely transparent in the management of this crisis, he said.

He advised children, elderly and those with lung disease to avoid outdoor activities and to seek medical treatment early.

 The longer Singaporeans go through high levels of haze, the more people will need medical attention, he said, but assured that hospitals are well prepared to handle the situation.

“This is a crisis but I’m confident we can survive this,” said Dr Balakrishnan. “We are going to overcome this problem by working very hard with the Indonesians and get them to do the right thing.”