In pursuit of more information on those responsible for the haze, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has issued legal notices to another 10 companies, this time registered in Singapore.
This comes after 10 companies in Indonesia were earlier sent notices under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA), said NEA in a news release on Friday (23 Oct) night.
Source: Eren Saitoh on Facebook
According to the NEA, all 10 companies that were served the latest notices are in the palm oil or forestry business.
They also own land concessions in Indonesia or have related companies with such land concessions.
They are:
Under Section 10 of the THPA, the Singapore companies must provide information and documents to NEA on matters including:
Previously, seven companies in Indonesia were issued notices under Section 9 of the THPA on 16 Oct, while three more were served on 19 Oct.
The seven that were served on 16 Oct are believed to have hosted fires in Sumatra on their lands, while the others are believed to be responsible for fires in Kalimantan.
Source: Salim Van Java on Wikimedia Commons
NEA is also writing to these companies to seek documents and information regarding
In a Facebook post on Friday night, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said serving notices to Singapore companies is “an important next step” in establishing facts and gathering evidence on their links to the haze.
The authorities will examine links between companies in Singapore and Indonesia and “follow the evidence”, as well as look beyond individual concession holders to larger corporate groups and those who may ultimately control them, she maintained, adding:
Whether companies are based overseas or registered here in Singapore, we will follow the evidence and take errant companies to task where the evidence supports it.
The THPA came into force in 2014 and allows legal action to be taken against companies responsible for causing or contributing to haze pollution in Singapore. This can be done even if the companies’ activities take place overseas.
According to the THPA, an entity can be fined up to S$100,000 for every day or part of a day that there is haze pollution in Singapore as a result of its conduct.
Entities that fail to comply with Preventive Measure Notices may be fined up to S$50,000 additionally for every day or part of a day that they fail to comply with the notice.
The move comes as the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) returned to the “unhealthy” range on Friday after a few days in the “moderate” range.
Source: Harvz Ramos on Facebook
At 4pm, the PSI in the west region read 103, with the Central region following suit by hitting 102 at 6pm.
As of 10pm, both the west and central regions had reached a daily peak of 112, with the other regions edging towards the “unhealthy” range with PSIs in the high 90s.
Source: www.haze.gov.sg
The “unhealthy” range is a PSI of 101 to 200, while PSI readings of 51 to 100 are considered “moderate”.
As for the hourly PM2.5 readings, they were in the “Elevated” bank across all regions at 10pm.
Source: www.haze.gov.sg
The PSI is forecast to be in the “moderate” to “unhealthy” range (90 to 140) on Saturday (24 Oct).
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Featured image adapted from Eren Saitoh on Facebook.