SINGAPORE, Oct 24 — Three of the 10 Singapore-based firms served legal notices over the transboundary haze have said they will hand over the information authorities want, The Straits Times reported today.

Wilmar International, Bumitama Agri and First Resources told the Singapore Exchange by 2pm on October 24 that they had received the notices and intend to comply.

Wilmar was first, announcing its plan close to midnight on October 23, about three hours after the National Environment Agency (NEA) revealed it had issued the notices.

A Wilmar spokesman told the newspaper the company is preparing the documents and will share more when there are material updates.

First Resources followed with a filing at 1.15am on October 24, while Bumitama Agri and its subsidiaries filed theirs at 1.15pm the same day.

The other seven firms, which have not responded to the newspaper’s requests for comment, are Asia Pulp & Paper Company, Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China), Golden Agri International, Indofood Agri Resources, Kencana Agri, TSH Global Plantation and TSH Oversea.

The notices, issued under Section 10 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA), seek details on the firms’ links to associated companies, their land concessions, and their fire prevention and firefighting efforts.

Representatives of firms that fail to comply face a fine of up to S$5,000 (RM15,976), up to one month in jail, or both.

NEA said all 10 firms, which operate in the oil palm or forestry sectors, either own land concessions in Indonesia or have related companies that do.

Who are the three firms

Wilmar International, headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Singapore Exchange, is one of Asia’s largest agribusiness groups.

It was founded in 1991 by Kuok Khoon Hong, now its chairman and chief executive officer, and Martua Sitorus, and began as a palm oil trading company.

Its businesses span oil palm cultivation, edible oil refining, oilseed crushing, sugar milling and refining, oleochemicals, biodiesel and grains processing.

Wilmar has about 100,000 employees and a distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia and some 50 other countries.

Its largest shareholder is the Kuok Group, with about 27 per cent, followed by US commodities trader Archer-Daniels-Midland.

Bumitama Agri, a Singapore-listed holding company founded in 1996 by the Harita Group, runs oil palm plantations in Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Riau and produces crude palm oil and palm kernel.

First Resources, established in 1992 and listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2007, operates oil palm plantations in Riau, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan, alongside mills and refining, biodiesel and kernel-crushing operations.

The move escalates Singapore’s pressure on companies linked to the haze, after NEA earlier asked 10 Indonesian firms for information and issued preventive measures notices to seven pulpwood companies in Sumatra on October 16 and three in Kalimantan on October 19, which carry no penalties for non-compliance.

Under the THPA, entities found guilty of causing or contributing to the haze can be fined up to S$100,00 (RM319,520) for every day the pollution persists, capped at S$2 million (RM6.39 million).

Senior Minister K. Shanmugam warned on October 19 that errant firms would not be allowed to hide behind complex corporate structures or borders.