Momentary Relief From Smoke Haze For Sultanate
By Khairunnisa Ibrahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei's skyline continues to be slightly obscured by the smoke haze, but the situation has vastly improved thanks to frequent showers and the prevailing northerly to northwesterly winds, which direct the smoke over the southwestern part of Borneo away from the Sultanate.

Minimum visibility yesterday was at 6km, an improvement from 4km the previous day, the duty forecaster at the Brunei Meteorological Service said.

Air quality also remained in the "good" range with a PSI level of 35, the Department of Environment reported.

However, active weather over the South China Sea might alter the direction of the wind as early as today, reverting it back to the southwesterly direction which could then usher smoke particles into Brunei.

The latest haze map provided by Singapore's Meteorological Services Division showed moderate to thick haze encompassing most of Kalimantan and some parts of Sarawak on Friday. More than 100 hotspots were detected by satellite on the same day.

The severe haze plaguing the region is believed to be the worst experienced since the 1997 and 1998 haze crises. It has disrupted education and transport in Indonesia and some parts of Malaysia, with air quality reaching unhealthy levels.

In Singapore and Thailand the air quality has also deteriorated, as a result of the airborne pollutants transported by the winds from the burning areas in Indonesia.

Last Friday, environment ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei met in Pekanbaru, Riau on Sumatra to discuss the problem. At the meeting, Indonesia asked for its Asean neighbours' aid in combating the forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Indonesia has also pledged to ratify the 2002 Transboundary Haze Pollution Agreement. The rest of the 10 member countries of Asean have already ratified it.

The region had been forewarned of the likely arrival of smoke haze episode from the anual land-clearing activities for agriculture by an Alert Level 1 issued by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre at the beginning of the dry season.

Following worsening conditions, the alert level had been upgraded to Alert Level 2 since 28 September 2006. A week later on 5 October 2006, an Alert Level 3 was issued.

This prompted the Panel of Asean Experts on Fire and Haze Assessment and Coordination to be activated for a second time, with fire experts from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei meeting in the affected areas in Indonesia to conduct ground assessment on the current situation.

This is the first time that Brunei participated in the joint operation. Fire experts Senior Superintendent Lim Hock Guan from the National Disaster Management Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs and Senior Superintendent Japar Tahir from the Fire and Rescue Services left for Sumatra and Kalimantan earlier this week, to join other experts in assessing the severity of the problem on the ground.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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