SGX RegCo engages listed plantation firms over haze, warns of regulatory action

[SINGAPORE] Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has engaged listed companies with agricultural operations and plantations in Indonesia over the ongoing haze, including seeking information on whether their activities may have contributed to it.

The regulator is also asking about the impact of the forest and peatland fires on their operations and the measures being taken in response, it said on Friday (Oct 16).

“SGX RegCo takes the ongoing forest and peatland fires seriously, given the impact of the haze on communities, the environment and businesses,” it said.

The regulator warned that it would take “appropriate regulatory action” where companies failed to meet their disclosure obligations under the SGX Listing Rules.

SGX RegCo noted that some companies had already made announcements on the haze, including details of their no-burning and no-peat policies, hot-spot monitoring and water management.

Among Singapore-listed plantation companies that have issued statements are Bumitama Agri and First Resources.

Bumitama said on Friday that the detection of a hot spot within a concession should not on its own be treated as evidence of where a fire began or who was responsible for starting it.

Based on its internal observations and preliminary investigations, the company said no evidence had been established linking its operations to the initiation of the fires under investigation or to the haze in question.

For one affected concession, Bumitama said an official record of examination issued by the Indonesian authorities found that the fire had originated outside the concession before spreading into it.

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The company said it maintains a strict zero-burning policy and uses measures including satellite hot-spot tracking, 24-hour field monitoring, artificial intelligence-enabled CCTV and thermal imaging drones.

Bumitama Agri shares were down 4.8 per cent or S$0.09 at S$1.78 when they last traded at 11.59 am on Friday. The company requested a trading halt at 12.52 pm, ahead of the release of its clarification statement, and later requested for the halt to be lifted after the market closed.

First Resources, meanwhile, said on Thursday that it had identified hot spots around its concessions in West Kalimantan, many of which were found after verification to be outside its operating boundaries.

There had also been cases where fires that originated outside its boundaries subsequently spread into areas it managed, it said.

First Resources has a zero-burning policy and monitors fire risks using daily satellite tracking, it added. The counter closed 6.9 per cent or S$0.28 lower at S$3.80 on Friday.

SGX RegCo’s intervention comes as Singapore authorities step up action over the haze.

Earlier on Friday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said there were indications that smoke from fires on lands held via concessions under seven companies in Indonesia could have moved to Singapore.

NEA said it was tracking hot spots and smoke plumes using information including maps, meteorological data and satellite imagery.

The seven are Bumi Andalas Permai, Bumi Mekar Hijau, Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, Sumatera Alam Anugerah, SBA Wood Industries, Hutan Lestari Raya and Bangkanesia.

NEA has sent preventive measure notices to the seven companies under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act. They require the companies to deploy firefighting personnel, stop or refrain from burning, and submit plans to extinguish fires and prevent a recurrence.

Bumitama and First Resources are not among the seven companies that received preventive measure notices from NEA.

They were, however, separately named in an Oct 5 Greenpeace report as having plantation areas in Indonesia where fires and smoke were detected.

Air quality deteriorated sharply across Singapore overnight into Friday, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index in the central region reaching the “very unhealthy” range at midnight. It stood at 229 at 3 pm, a new high for the year.