NEA welcomes response from 7 S’pore-registered companies over haze probe
Five Singapore-registered companies have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing probe into the haze that blanketed Singapore for more than a month.
They have agreed to engage assessors, while two other companies have also indicated their willingness to cooperate, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a news release on Saturday (31 Oct).
Source: Ng Geok Yan on Facebook
NEA has met 5 companies that have agreed to cooperate with haze probe
The five companies that have committed to engaging assessors, thereby cooperating in the assessment process conducted by the Panel on Transboundary Haze, are:
- Asia Pulp & Paper Company Limited
- Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China) Limited
- Golden Agri-Resources Limited
- Indofood Agri Resources Ltd
- Wilmar International Ltd
NEA has met representatives from all five companies, it said.
2 more companies willing to cooperate by engaging assessors, investigators
NEA also said that it will be meeting Kencana Agri Ltd, which has “expressed willingness” to voluntarily engage assessors.
The agency noted that First Resources Ltd had issued a public statement recently, stating that it was prepared to engage an investigation firm and a law firm to assess if it had any involvement in, or connection with, the fires in Indonesia that contributed to transboundary haze.
NEA welcomed the statement, adding:
We look forward to receiving written confirmation of its participation in the assessment process.
Source: Google Maps
NEA welcomes response from 7 S’pore-registered companies
NEA welcomed the response from all seven Singapore-registered companies, saying that their voluntary participation in the assessment process will help establish the facts.
These include whether the companies had any links to haze-causing fires in Indonesia.
On 23 Oct, a total of 10 Singapore-registered companies were issued legal notices under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA)
The remaining three companies that were served the notices but not mentioned in NEA’s latest statement are Bumitama Agri Ltd, TSH Global Plantation Pte Ltd and TSH Oversea Pte Ltd.
Companies met 3 ministers on 28 Oct
On Wednesday (28 Oct), the senior executives of the 10 Singapore-registered companies attended a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Senior Minister K. Shanmugam and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, said the Government expects the companies to “cooperate fully” in appointing assessors identified by the Panel.
The assessors will be told by the Panel which areas to look at, with Davinder Singh Chambers appointed as advisor and coordinator to the assessors on the facts needed, areas to investigate, approaches to take, and how a report should be prepared that provides the best possible information.
Though the meeting was not very long, the ministers set out expectations and the companies said they would cooperate, he added.
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Featured image adapted from Ng Geok Yan on Facebook.
