NEA issues notices to 10 Singapore-based companies, including Wilmar and APP, over haze

[SINGAPORE] The National Environment Agency (NEA) has issued notices to 10 Singapore-registered companies, including Wilmar International and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), seeking information on their operations and potential links to the haze affecting Singapore.

In a statement on Friday night (Oct 23), NEA said the notices were issued under Section 10 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) to companies in the palm oil and forestry sectors.

The companies either own land concessions in Indonesia or have related companies with such concessions.

NEA is seeking documents and information on their links to associated companies in Singapore and Indonesia, the locations of their land concessions, and measures taken to prevent or fight fires during the dry season.

The 10 companies are:

• Asia Pulp & Paper Company;
• Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China);
• Bumitama Agri ;
• Golden Agri International ;
• First Resources ;
• Indofood Agri Resources ;
• Kencana Agri ;
• TSH Global Plantation;
• TSH Overseas; and
• Wilmar International .

The notices come as the government steps up efforts to identify and hold accountable companies that may have contributed to the haze affecting Singapore.

In a separate announcement on Friday, the Ministry of Law said the government had appointed Davinder Singh Chambers as its adviser on coordinating cross-border inquiries and investigations into companies potentially linked to the haze.

The government will also establish a specialist panel comprising law firms, audit firms and investigative firms to examine the operations, corporate relationships and supply chains of companies identified by the authorities.

In its statement, NEA said it had also issued preventive measures notices under Section 9 of the THPA to 10 companies in Indonesia over fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

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Seven companies were served notices on Oct 16 over fires in Sumatra, while three others received notices on Oct 19 over fires in Kalimantan.

The companies are:

• Bumi Andalas Permai;
• Bumi Mekar Hijau;
• SBA Wood Industries;
• Paramitra Mulia Langgeng;
• Sumatera Alam Anugerah;
• Hutan Lestari Raya;
• Bangkanesia;
• Buana Megatama Jaya;
• Mananjung Hayak; and
• Baratama Putra Perkasa.

The notices require the companies to deploy firefighting personnel to extinguish or prevent the spread of fires on land they own or occupy, stop or refrain from burning activities, and submit to NEA plans to extinguish fires or prevent their spread or recurrence.

NEA is also seeking documents and information from these companies on fires in their concessions, measures taken to extinguish them, and their links to associated companies in Indonesia and Singapore.

The agency said it remains committed to identifying and holding accountable local and foreign companies that have caused or contributed to transboundary haze pollution in Singapore under the THPA.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said in a social media post on Friday that the latest action is “an important next step in establishing the facts and gathering the evidence needed” to determine whether companies have contributed to the haze. 

“We will examine the links between companies in Singapore and Indonesia and follow the evidence,” she said, adding that Singapore will look beyond individual concession holders to larger corporate groups and persons who may ultimately control them. 

“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.”