'Government taking this matter seriously and is determined to act': Shanmugam on haze situation

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 (Oct 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 Oct 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

Golden Agri International Pte Ltd

Indofood Agri Resources Ltd

TSH Global Plantation 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 Oct 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.

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com

国家安全统筹部长兼内政部长尚穆根表示，他不想给人留下这样的印象：在新加坡注册的公司是造成雾霾加剧的主要或唯一原因。

他表示，鉴于目前的雾霾情况，不可能“照常营业”，并告诉相关公司，此举的目的“不是为了寻找替罪羊”。

他说：“我们会追究相关责任人的责任，如果事实表明没有不当行为，我们也会在此基础上继续进行调查。”

周三（10 月 28 日），他在与可能与雾霾有关的新加坡公司的高层领导会面后，向媒体发表了讲话。

副总理颜金勇和永续环境部长傅海燕也出席了会议。

与他们一同出席的还有律师 Davinder Singh SC、总检察长办公室、法律部和国家环境局 (NEA) 的高级官员。

尚穆根表示，这是一次简短的会议，部长们在会上提出了对企业的期望，企业随后同意合作。

傅部长表示：“这些并非例行信息请求。不配合是违法行为。”他强调，他们希望相关企业能够提供全面、准确、及时的答复，体现实质性的合作和透明度。

她重申，法律部将公布一份入选跨境调查专家评审小组的律师事务所名单。

这些公司将被要求自费聘请该小组中的一家公司，并允许这些独立评估人员全面了解其运营、供应链和企业关系。

评审小组随后将根据评审结果向国家环境局提交一份评估报告。

尚穆根强调，政府“认真对待”此事，并“决心采取行动”，他还补充说，政府将寻求一切可用的法律和监管途径。

他说：“新加坡政府会做正确的事情。我们需要确保这里的公司以不影响新加坡或该地区的方式开展业务。”

傅先生表示：“新加坡人不应该承担不负责任的企业造成的健康和环境成本。”

10 月 23 日，新加坡国家环境局 (NEA) 根据《跨境烟霾污染法》第 10 条，向 10 家在新加坡注册的棕榈油和林业公司发出通知，这是其对与印度尼西亚有关的跨境烟霾污染进行调查的一部分。

这10家在新加坡注册的公司是：

亚洲浆纸业有限公司

亚洲浆纸业有限公司（中国）

金农国际私人有限公司

印度食品农业资源有限公司

TSH环球种植私人有限公司

丰益国际有限公司

通知要求提供这些公司在新加坡和印度尼西亚的企业联系详情、它们在印度尼西亚的土地特许权位置，以及这些公司或其关联企业在当前旱季采取的防火和灭火措施。

周三与部长们的会面中，所有 10 家公司均派代表出席。

采取行动应对雾霾

此次会议召开的前一天，新加坡和印度尼西亚表示，他们正在考虑成立一个联合工作组，追究造成跨境烟霾的森林火灾相关公司的责任。

据印尼外交部长阿尔马纳塔·纳西尔称，两国还将设立一条热线，以处理双边问题上的任何分歧。

这些举措是在10月27日新加坡外交部长维文·巴拉克里希南博士与印尼外交部长在雅加达会晤后举行的联合新闻发布会上宣布的。

傅海燕部长周二还表示，新加坡正在研究如何加强现有的反雾霾立法，并在必要时出台新的法律。

“我们的目标是弥补执法漏洞，加强企业问责制，并提高我们调查和对跨境雾霾责任人采取果断行动的能力，”她说。

傅海燕周三补充说，有关该法修正案的更多信息将在下次立法机关会议上公布。

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com