The National Environment Agency said on Monday it is still gathering hotspot data and weighing overseas enforcement options under Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, even as hourly PM2.5 readings stayed in the elevated band across all five regions overnight.

For Parliament watchers, the statement matters because the Act is one of the few tools that lets Singapore pursue companies whose land burns abroad. NEA reminded the public that it issued legal notices to six firms after the 2015 crisis, closed two cases when ownership changed, and has kept four probes active for more than a decade.

What NEA said on Monday

Responding to questions about whether fresh action is planned for the current episode, NEA said it is closely monitoring fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra and the smoke reaching the island. The agency did not commit to new notices this week, but it stressed that investigations from 2015 are unfinished business, not archived paperwork.

That distinction is politically sensitive. Opposition MPs have long asked why decade-old files stay open while households breathe unhealthy air every few years. The government's answer, repeated on Monday, is that cross-border evidence takes time and that Indonesia must cooperate on land maps and concession records.

Air quality and public agencies

Separately, NEA's daily forecast kept 24-hour PSI in the unhealthy range on Tuesday, with widespread hotspots still visible on satellite passes. The Ministry of Education has said schools will only close if the next-day forecast crosses into the hazardous band above 300 PSI, a threshold that has not been triggered this week.

The Haze Task Force has already lined up N95 distribution if the 24-hour reading exceeds 200, and subsidised respiratory care started at polyclinics and Public Health Preparedness Clinics on Monday. Those health measures sit in a different ministry, but they shape how voters judge NEA's enforcement story: visible relief at clinics alongside slower legal processes against overseas planters.

Why the Act rarely fires

Legal scholars note that the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was designed as a deterrent, not a weekly ticketing regime. Prosecutors need credible links between a company's land and measurable pollution here, which is why NEA's Monday note emphasised data collection rather than courtroom dates.

Still, keeping four 2015 cases open signals that Singapore has not dropped the threat of fines up to S$2 million for repeat offenders. Whether that changes corporate behaviour in Sumatra is harder to prove, but it gives ministers a concrete answer when Southeast Asian haze returns every dry season.

What happens next

NEA said showers could ease smoke later in the week, but dry pockets in Indonesia mean transboundary haze can return quickly. The agency will continue publishing hourly PM2.5 bands and 24-hour PSI by region, and it urged healthy adults to cut prolonged outdoor exertion while readings stay unhealthy.

For residents, the practical checklist is unchanged: check the myENV app, keep N95 masks handy if you are in a vulnerable group, and watch MOE notices if forecasts worsen. For policymakers, Monday's statement is a reminder that Singapore's haze playbook still pairs domestic health relief with slow-burn legal pressure abroad.

Regional diplomacy

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has used previous haze episodes to press ASEAN counterparts for faster hotspot suppression. Monday's NEA statement gives him fresh talking points in Jakarta: Singapore is still pursuing corporate accountability even when skies clear.

Environmental groups want faster outcomes, but lawyers caution that extraterritorial cases depend on document trails from plantation owners. Until those files move, NEA's public updates will keep sounding similar year after year — even when PM2.5 readings do not.