Singapore ministers met representatives of 10 Singapore-registered companies on Oct 28 over investigations into haze-causing fires, as the government outlined plans to make refusing independent assessments or failing to cooperate with assessors an offence.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Senior Minister K Shanmugam and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu attended the meeting. All 10 firms were represented and said they would cooperate fully.
Responsibility for the fires remains under investigation, and Shanmugam cautioned against assuming the companies were guilty.
New offences planned for next Parliament sitting
Fu said amendments to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act would be tabled at the next sitting of Parliament. If passed, firms that decline to appoint assessors, or do not fully cooperate with them, would be committing an offence.
Separately, Shanmugam stressed that NEA’s existing statutory notices require full, accurate and prompt responses. Non-compliance with those notices is already an offence, he said.
Companies to pay for independent assessments
Under the plan, each company would hire its own assessment team from a panel picked by the government. Every team would pair an investigations firm with a law firm advising it, with the companies bearing the cost.
NEA would set what the assessors look into. The teams would be able to examine the firms’ operations, supply chains and corporate ties, and would then submit their findings to NEA.
Meeting follows earlier information notices
NEA announced on Oct 23 that it was seeking documents and information from the 10 Singapore-registered firms.
The requests covered corporate links, Indonesian land concessions, fire prevention measures and firefighting efforts. NEA said the firms operate in palm oil or forestry and hold Indonesian concessions themselves or through related companies.
Fu said the government would continue pursuing the matter even as haze conditions improved.
