SINGAPORE, Oct 28 — Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam has said that he does not want to give the impression that the Singapore-registered companies are the primary or sole cause of the heightened haze situation.
He shared that it was not possible to proceed with “business as usual” given the current haze situation and told the relevant firms that the intention of the exercise was “not to find scapegoats”.
He said: “We will hold those responsible to account and if the facts show that there is no wrongdoing, we will proceed on that basis as well.”
He was speaking to the media on Wednesday (October 28) after meeting with the senior leadership of Singapore-based companies that may be linked to the haze.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
They were joined by lawyer Davinder Singh SC, senior officials from Attorney-General Chambers, Ministry of Law and the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Shanmugam said that it was a brief meeting in which the ministers set out their expectations for the firms who then agreed to cooperate.
“These are not routine requests for information. Non-compliance is an offence,” said Minister Fu, emphasising that they expect full, accurate and prompt responses from the firms that reflect substantive cooperation and transparency.
She reiterated that the Ministry of Law will be publishing a list of firms selected to be on a specialist panel of assessors with expertise in cross-border inquiries and investigations.
The companies will be expected to engage a firm from this panel at their own expense and give these independent assessors full access to their operations, supply chains and corporate relationships.
The panel will subsequently provide NEA with an evaluation report based on their review.
Shanmugam emphasised that the government is taking this matter “seriously” and is “determined to act”, adding that it would pursue all legal and regulatory avenues available.
He said: “Singapore government will do what is right. We need to make sure that the companies here conduct their operations in a manner that doesn’t affect Singapore or the region.
“Singaporeans should not have to bear the health and environmental costs of irresponsible business,” remarked Fu.
On October 23, NEA issued notices to 10 Singapore-registered companies in the palm oil and forestry sectors under Section 10 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, as part of its probe into transboundary haze pollution linked to Indonesia.
The 10 Singapore-registered companies are:
- Asia Pulp & Paper Company Limited
- Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China) Limited
- Bumitama Agri Ltd
- Golden Agri International Pte Ltd
- First Resources Ltd
- Indofood Agri Resources Ltd
- Kencana Agri Ltd
- TSH Global Plantation Pte Ltd
- TSH Oversea Pte Ltd
- Wilmar International Ltd
The notices sought details of the firms corporate links in Singapore and Indonesia, the locations of their land concessions in Indonesia, and fire prevention and firefighting measures undertaken by the companies or their associated businesses during the current dry season.
All 10 firms were represented during the meeting with the ministers on Wednesday.
Taking action against haze
The meeting comes a day after Singapore and Indonesia said they are looking into establishing a joint task force to hold companies accountable for forest fires which have caused transboundary haze.
The two countries will also set up a hotline to handle any differences in bilateral issues, according to Indonesia Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir.
These initiatives were announced at a joint press conference in Jakarta on October 27 following a meeting between Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and his Indonesian counterpart.
Minister Fu also said on Tuesday that Singapore is studying ways to tighten its existing anti-haze legislation and will introduce new laws where necessary.
“The objective is to address enforcement gaps, strengthen corporate accountability, and enhance our ability to investigate and take decisive action against those responsible for transboundary haze,” she said.
Fu added on Wednesday that more information on amendments to the law will be shared during the next Parliament sitting. — AsiaOne
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