Singapore GP to go ahead despite haze fears

Race promoters Singapore GP previously said haze was one of the “potential issues” covered in its contingency plan.

The Singapore Grand Prix is the 13th race of the season and defending world champion and last year’s victor Lewis Hamilton will be a strong favourite to extend his championship lead, now 53 points, with an eighth victory of the campaign.

A decision on whether it will be safe to race will be made by FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting after consulting with drivers and teams.

“The haze has spread to the surrounding sea areas”, the agency said.

Malaysia’s education ministry ordered schools closed in Kuala Lumpur, three adjacent states and the nearby administrative capital of Putrajaya, where air pollution indices were in the upper range of “unhealthy” and nearing “very unhealthy”.

Nevertheless, air quality continues to deteriorate and remains at hazardous levels.

The blazes intensified in the past fortnight, sending smog over Sumatra and Borneo that has left tens of thousands ill, forced people to wear face masks and prompted the cancellation of flights and school closures.

A long-term solution is required to overcome the problem of haze arising from forest fires in Indonesia, Singapore’s Ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar stated.

An annual problem, the haze is caused by farmers in neighboring Indonesia burning forests to clear land for farming.

The thick, dirty white haze blanketed many parts of Malaysia early Tuesday, with 34 out of 52 air quality stations recording unhealthy air levels.

Indonesian troops will be sent to the provinces of South Sumatra and Jambi, two of the main hotspots, Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said. Over 22,500 cases of acute respiratory tract infections have been reported in southern Sumatra with 1,00,000 in East Kalimantan province. The government health advisory will also be placed at the entrances of the circuit park.

In January, Indonesia ratified a long-awaited regional agreement on haze pollution that is binding on all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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Singapore’s Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan spoke with Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Baka on Monday and offered to help control the fires.