COMMENT: The haze has a side show and a main show
A fireman standing before a peatland fire in Pemulutan, Indonesia, on 30 July 2015. (Associated Press file photo)
A new kind of smoke is being blown from Indonesia. It is of the political variety, with Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar telling Singapore to mind its own business when it comes to solving the haze issue.
Apparently reacting to a Singapore decision to use its haze law to get a court order to talk to an Indonesian company director, the Minister hit back by saying that some environment-related agreements with Singapore would be scrapped as part of a review.
Two Indonesian observers cautioned against putting too much weight on the Minister’s words.
Endy Bayuni, a veteran Jakarta journalist said: “Like many other petty matters that the two neighbours quarrel over, this one will blow over.
“I can’t see the real reason why the two governments should fight over this. They are on the same side, to fight the haze and find the perpetrators, whoever they are and wherever they live.”
Yuyun Indradi, a Greenpeace representative in Jakarta, said the situation was more political than environmental as only one minister had talked about it so far.
In the larger scheme of things, this is likely to be a side show as Indonesia tries to reassert its image as Asean’s big brother, especially with small brother Singapore.
And it wants to show to its public that it won’t allow Singapore to dictate terms on who should take charge of solving the perennial haze that pollutes the environment here.
It is not that Indonesia is keeping quiet about the wilful burning of its forests, which are then turned into arable land for oil palm plantation.
As I am writing this article, news has begun filtering in that Jakarta has rejected applications from companies for new oil palm operations to try and contain the companies’ flourishing business.
The Indonesian government understands and accepts that there is a need to get this haze issue off its back. But action is slow and patchy in a country that is held back by corruption and decentralisation of power.
And let’s not forget that Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands run by village and mafia chiefs with motivations very different from those of the central government in Jakarta.
Seeing through the mess
It is a messy system out there and Singapore already knows this. So why does it act the way it has in issuing a court warrant to the company director?
This where we come to the main show. Singapore has to show its population
that it is serious about implementing the 2014 Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.
That law came about as Singaporeans felt the government was doing nothing against those responsible for the haze that appears in the country’s skies nearly every year.
How is Singapore going to act against those who blatantly flout the rules and keep burning forests, thus causing an environmental disaster?
It can’t use the law to bring an alleged offender to Singapore to face the music because the extradition treaty has not been approved by the Indonesian Parliament.
Two years after the passing of the haze law and with another haze likely to happen soon, the time has come for Singapore to show its citizens that it means business. Thus, this action against the Indonesian company director.
All this is wayang kulit, or shadow play, by both parties.
Singaporeans need to know that their government’s hands are tied and that they cannot expect Indonesia to get things done efficiently and speedily.
In short, don’t just fret about the side show happening in Indonesia but seek out the main show that is happening in Singapore.
P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who is the former chief editor of TODAY newspaper, and a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.
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