Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has asked 10 Singapore-registered palm oil and forestry companies for records on Indonesian concessions and fire controls, widening its haze inquiry without saying the recipients caused the pollution.
The companies named by NEA 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 and Wilmar International Ltd. NEA said the companies either hold Indonesian concession land or have related companies that do.
The Section 10 requests seek details about links among associated companies in Singapore and Indonesia, concession locations, and fire-prevention measures or firefighting efforts during the dry season. The agency’s announcement does not say the recipients caused or contributed to the haze.
Section 10 of Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act allows NEA to require relevant documents and information from people inside or outside Singapore within a reasonable period. A person who fails to comply without reasonable excuse may, upon conviction, face a fine of up to S$5,000, up to one month in prison, or both.
The information requests follow separate preventive notices to Indonesian companies. NEA sent notices to seven firms over fires in Sumatra on Oct. 16, then to three more over fires in Kalimantan on Monday, Oct. 19. Those notices require fire-response personnel, an end to burning and plans to extinguish fires or prevent them from returning.
CNA described Friday’s notices as the first of their kind issued to Singapore-based firms. NEA’s 2015 annual report, however, records an earlier information notice to a Singapore-registered company. It does not name the company or state which section of the law was used, so the report does not establish whether the current notices are the first under Section 10.
