All 10 S’pore-based firms acknowledge NEA notices on haze law; majority say they will cooperate

SINGAPORE – All 10 Singapore-based companies that were issued notices under the Republic’s haze law have acknowledged the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) requests for information on their links to fires in Indonesia.

Three of them did not explicitly say they would cooperate with the agency’s request, which carries penalties for representatives of non-compliant firms – Indofood Agri Resources, TSH Global Plantation and TSH Oversea.

On Oct 26, the acknowledgements of the notices for TSH Global Plantation and TSH Oversea, the last two to respond, came via Malaysian firm TSH Resources, which oversees them.

In a filing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) at 8.12am, the oil palm plantation group said its subsidiaries were notified on Oct 23 to provide documents and information under Section 10 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) by Nov 2.

“We are reviewing the notice and will engage with the agency accordingly,” the filing said.

Under Section 10 of the Act, representatives from non-compliant firms can face a fine of up to $5,000, a jail term of up to one month, or both.

Under the Act, entities found guilty of causing or contributing to the haze can be fined up to $100,000 every day the pollution persists, capped at a maximum of $2 million.

The SGX-listed Kencana Agri and Indofood Agri Resources had filed their acknowledgements on Oct 25.

Kencana Agri, owned by the Maknawi family, said at 10.24pm that it would cooperate fully with the NEA, adding that it would make further announcements as and when there were any material developments.

The filing was signed off by Ratna Maknawi, executive vice-chairperson for the producer of crude palm oil and crude palm kernel oil in Indonesia.

Indofood Agri Resources said in its 6.02pm filing that it received the NEA notice on Oct 23, and that it would give more details when there were material updates.

Its secretary Mak Mei Yook signed off on the filing.

NEA had issued the legal notices on the night of Oct 23 to Asia Pulp & Paper Company, Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China), Bumitama Agri, Golden Agri International, First Resources, Indofood Agri Resources, Kencana Agri, TSH Global Plantation, TSH Oversea, and Wilmar International.

All 10 firms are in the oil palm or forestry business, and either own land concessions in Indonesia or have related companies with such concessions.

Following the issuance of the notices, Wilmar International was the first to announce its plan to comply, it declared in a filing close to midnight on Oct 23, about three hours after NEA sent them.

First Resources followed suit at 1.15am on Oct 24, agreeing to provide the necessary details.

Subsequently, Bumitama Agri and its subsidiaries said in a filing at 1.15pm on Oct 24 that the company would provide the requested documents and information to NEA. It was signed off by executive chairman and chief executive Lim Gunawan Hariyanto.

Later that day at about 6.30pm, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) replied The Straits Times that it was cooperating with the authorities.

This was followed by Golden Agri International, a subsidiary of Golden Agri-Resources, also saying it would cooperate with the government agency.

The notices sent on Oct 23 followed earlier moves by the NEA to issue preventive measures notices to 10 Indonesian companies on Oct 16 and 19.

The earlier notices, issued under Section 9 of the THPA, had asked the firms for more information on how they were preventing or suppressing fires on their lands.

There are no penalties for firms involved if they do not respond to notices issued under this section.

Aqil Hamzah is a transport journalist at The Straits Times. He is also interested in issues related to crime and technology.