ASMC activates highest transboundary haze alert

On Wednesday, the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) raised its transboundary haze alert to its highest level for southern Asean amid ongoing haze. The agency reported that the hotspot and haze situation in southern Asean worsened over recent days due to prolonged dry conditions, as noted in an advisory on their website. Moderate to dense haze was seen across vast areas of southern and central Sumatra.

In its latest daily haze and weather report, ASMC indicated that moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes were observed drifting from hotspots in West Kalimantan towards western Sarawak. Smoke plumes were also detected emanating from hotspots in various regions of Kalimantan, as well as central and southern Sumatra. Several air quality monitoring stations in West and South Kalimantan, central and southern Sumatra, and western Sarawak recorded unhealthy to hazardous air quality levels, according to the advisory.

On the other hand, Singapore's National Environment Agency reported that the city-state's air quality remained in the moderate range, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index fluctuating between 56 and 64 as of 11am the previous day.