Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto apologised to people in Singapore and Malaysia on Sunday (15 November) over haze from forest and land fires in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Presidential Secretariat said Prabowo apologised on behalf of his government and the Indonesian people for any impact the fires had on their neighbours. He was speaking at the plenary session of the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila. The secretariat said the fires had lasted nearly four months and that smoke had reached both countries.
Indonesia Says 11 Companies Have Been Charged
Prabowo said Indonesia had revoked 17 concessions, which give companies the right to use land, and had charged 11 companies. He said the government was also preparing to set up a new agency to help prevent future fires.
Indonesia deployed 71,000 personnel to fight the fires, Prabowo said. Sixteen firefighters died during the operation, others were injured and two helicopters were lost.
PM Wong Proposes Expanding the Haze Task Force
At the ASEAN leaders’ retreat the same day, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong proposed opening the Singapore-Indonesia task force to the rest of ASEAN. Singapore and Indonesia agreed on 27 October to form the task force so they could share information and coordinate action on companies linked to the fires.
Wong said countries across the region could use the platform to exchange evidence and take action against companies responsible for fires, CNA reported. He said fires could happen in any ASEAN country and called on businesses to stop using fire to clear land.
Singapore’s National Environment Agency said on 23 October that it was seeking information from 10 Singapore-registered companies about their links to operations in Indonesia and the steps taken there to prevent or fight fires. On 4 November, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu told Parliament that all 10 companies had responded to the notices and agreed to appoint assessors.
