NEA has sent legal notices to 7 companies under haze law, will take further action where warranted

SINGAPORE – Seven companies will be issued legal notices requesting that they stop the burning on their lands in Indonesia and submit plans to extinguish the fires.

Investigations so far have shown that some of the haze that has blanketed Singapore in recent weeks originated from fires on lands owned by these seven companies in Indonesia, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Oct 16.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) will send these companies Preventive Measure Notices under Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA), which targets those responsible for causing or condoning fires.

NEA has been tracking hotspots and smoke from fires in the region to identify the companies that contributed to the haze, and is committed to investigating all other companies responsible for causing it, Fu said at a press conference at the National Press Centre.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and the companies’ responses to these notices. Where warranted, we will take further action under the THPA based on the information and evidence available,” she said.

The notices will inform the companies to do the following: deploy firefighters to extinguish or prevent the spread of any fire on land owned or occupied by them; discontinue or not start any burning activities; and submit to NEA their action plans to extinguish any fires on their lands and prevent their recurrence.

Fu said identifying the companies involves analysing satellite imagery and meteorological data and establishing the companies responsible requires information from various sources.

Not all of the information is within Singapore’s jurisdiction, she noted, adding that the authorities have drawn from various sources including open-source imagery to identify the companies.

The Government expects the haze to persist for the next three to four weeks until the winds change, she said, noting that the situation is fluid and conditions could reach hazardous levels.

Fu and other ministers also detailed the Government’s plans to deal with the fallout from the haze over the next few weeks, including more mask distributions if poor air conditions persist and the possibility of rescheduling O Level examinations if conditions become hazardous.

Fu’s announcement on the issuing of legal notices comes a day after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Oct 15 that Singapore is looking into companies that may be responsible for haze-causing fires.

He had said Singapore will take action where warranted under the THPA, and also explore joint action with other countries.

The THPA, enacted in 2014, can be triggered if the haze causes the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), a measure of air quality here, to stay in the unhealthy range in any part of Singapore for 24 hours or more.

The Straits Times first reported on Oct 12 that Singapore has this year faced several haze episodes that meet the threshold for the law to be applied.

Two Singapore-listed palm oil companies, Bumitama Agri and First Resources, have been linked by a Greenpeace investigation to plantation areas in Indonesia where fires and smoke were detected.

Another privately held company, First Borneo Plantations, which has ownership links to Singapore-incorporated companies, was also named in the Oct 5 report.

Bumitama Agri called for a trading break at midday on Oct 16 after its shares fell 4.81% to $1.78.

This is the Government’s first press conference since the current haze episode began, and comes amid the current stretch of 12 consecutive days of unhealthy air from Oct 5 - the longest continuous stretch of poor air quality since the 2015 haze crisis.

That year, Singapore experienced a 14-day stretch of bad air between Sept 23 and Oct 7, The Straits Times checks on historical 24-hour PSI readings on government data portal Singstat showed.

PSI levels of 101 and above are considered unhealthy.

The THPA was wielded for the first time then, when the PSI breached hazardous levels with readings of over 300. No fines have been meted out yet.

NEA had identified fires on plantations, or concession lands, associated with six Indonesian companies and issued legal notices to them.

Those were also preventive-measure notices that requested the companies to extinguish the fires, stop any burning activities and submit to NEA plans to extinguish the fires or prevent their recurrence.