Singapore mulls extra-territorial laws on haze
Singapore is considering the possibility of introducing extra-territorial laws to keep errant companies causing the regional haze in check.
Sharing this in parliament on Monday, Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam, who was responding to questions from Members of Parliament Pritam Singh, Lim Biow Chuan and Nominated MP Eugene Tan, said he had asked the Attorney-General's Chambers to look at available legal options that the city-state has, should "credible and usable evidence" be obtained.
He stressed, however, that Indonesia holds the key power to penalise or take other action against companies who continue to burn forests to clear land. He noted that he had written formally to Indonesia to request evidence of Singapore-linked firms' involvement in haze-causing activity in Sumatra, but his queries have not been answered.
Shanmugam isn't the only one who has been pressing Indonesia for answers — Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan also said on Monday that he is moving to push for official concession maps of the haze hot spots. He also wants the names of the companies involved in causing the haze, and for this to be produced by Indonesia and shared with the region.
It is only through the official furnishing of information relating to the companies responsible that the Singapore government can take authoritative action against them, said Balakrishnan.
Boycott of errant companies
MP for Tampines GRC Irene Ng also asked the Environment minister if it would be possible for consumers to exert pressure on responsible companies by boycotting their products, or for other companies to refuse to do business with them. To this, Balakrishnan said he agreed fully with the idea, and would be happy to implement it once he receives confirmation from his Indonesian counterparts of the companies in question.
"Without concession maps, it's difficult for me to point fingers authoritatively," he said, adding that he had previously spoken with Indonesia's environment minister informally and found that of the nine companies the latter had found, none of them were Singapore-linked. This contradicted another list of eight companies released by another Indonesian minister, who said two Singapore-associated companies were a part of the group.
Balakrishnan added, however, that the investigation and exposure of errant companies may best be done by non-government organisations or independent consumer groups, because the government needs to wait for official information from Indonesia.
