Singapore goes after companies over toxic haze

{"text":[[{"start":9.68,"text":"Singapore is trying to hold companies to account as it grapples with its worst air pollution in a decade, but the smog-choked city-state is running into the limits of prosecuting cross-border environmental laws."}],[{"start":21.9,"text":"The government has in recent days threatened legal action against 10 businesses, several with deep ties to Singapore, that it says are behind wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia that have produced the haze."}],[{"start":33.28,"text":"It has also raised questions about whether other companies listed on the local bourse may be involved, and has threatened to target company profits, access to financing and standing with investors."}],[{"start":43.44,"text":"“Singapore — which wants to continue being an international finance centre — gets a lot of business from these companies,” said Ivan Png at the National University of Singapore, who has campaigned for anti-haze legislation."}],[{"start":55.86,"text":"He added that the companies “depend on Singapore for equity and financing — you would think that would make them want to pay attention to what the government is saying”."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":64.1,"text":"The issue has also threatened a rift with Indonesia, where the fires are blamed on slash-and-burn practices by paper and palm oil producers."}],[{"start":72.6,"text":"This year’s fires have been exacerbated by a “super” El Niño, a natural weather phenomenon that has raised temperatures and reduced rainfall across Indonesia."}],[{"start":81.76,"text":"Singapore’s air quality has been classified by the government as “very unhealthy” this month, at times ranking the worst in the world, according to monitoring platform IQAir. Outdoor activities and sports events have been cancelled and hospital admissions for respiratory complaints have surged. The smog cast a pall over this month’s Singapore Grand Prix."}],[{"start":101.44,"text":"Public frustration is mounting with what has become a regular nuisance in the city-state that generally prides itself on effective governance."}],[{"start":109.38,"text":"Singapore has taken steps to try to bring companies suspected of field burning — which is also illegal in Indonesia — to book."}],[{"start":115.84,"text":"In 2014, it introduced a Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, which empowered the government to pursue criminal charges against companies found to have contributed to haze-producing fires and levy fines as high as S$100,000 (US$78,000) a day, capped at S$2mn (US$1.6mn) per conviction."}],[{"start":135.52,"text":"But initial attempts to enforce the law stalled, with the environment ministry complaining that its Indonesian counterpart did not provide the necessary information to pursue charges. No company has been fined under the law."}],[{"start":147.6,"text":"This year, Singapore has vowed to toughen its stance. In recent days, the government has served legal notices on 10 companies — identified using maps, meteorological data and satellite imagery — to demand they stop burning. Three of the businesses were served similar notices in 2015."}],[{"start":164.94,"text":"“[Companies] may think that it is hard to get evidence, and that they may think that they can escape scrutiny. But they should not underestimate the Singapore government’s determination to act,” home affairs minister K Shanmugam told reporters this week."}],[{"start":177,"text":"“If companies refuse to co-operate, regardless of whether they have a presence in Singapore . . . we will use every legal and regulatory lever at our disposal to exert pressure where it matters.”"}],[{"start":187.56,"text":"At least four of the 10 companies are suppliers to Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), which is headquartered in Singapore and part of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas. Two others are run by permanent Singapore residents."}],[{"start":200.68,"text":"Shanmugam said the government would investigate APP and several other companies listed in Singapore, where many Indonesian conglomerates access global capital."}],[{"start":209.76,"text":"“Some of the fires or smoke-source points seem to be associated with Singapore-listed First Resources and Bumitama Agri, as well as First Borneo Plantations,” he said. “We will be asking more questions of these companies.”"}],[{"start":222.48,"text":"Shanmugam added that banks that lent to the businesses had also questioned them, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s financial regulator, would track lenders’ risk exposure."}],[{"start":232.64,"text":"First Resources said it welcomed the investigation, adding it was “confident that an objective review of the available evidence will prove that it does not engage in any land clearing by fire, whether directly or indirectly”."}],[{"start":243.2,"text":"APP, Bumitama Agri and First Borneo Plantations did not respond to requests for comment."}],[{"start":250.04,"text":"SGX, the local bourse, has separately asked seven listed companies — including Golden-Agri Resources, Wilmar and Kencana Agri — about possible links to the haze."}],[{"start":258.72,"text":"Indonesia’s police chief said this week that authorities had named 11 corporations, three of them foreign, as suspects in connection with the fires."}],[{"start":267.08,"text":"“Some countries are mocking, insulting us . . . when many of their companies [operating] here are responsible,” Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said in a speech on Thursday, adding: “We will announce those names when the time comes.” He did not identify the countries."}],[{"start":284.56,"text":"Indonesia’s government communication agency said: “Indonesia and Singapore maintain channels of engagement on environmental issues, including transboundary pollution.” It added that it prioritises “the protection of affected communities, the containment of fires, and effective enforcement of environmental regulations”."}],[{"start":303.76,"text":"NUS professor Png called for stronger laws to provide an incentive to whistleblowers, pointing to successful efforts in the US to combat bribery under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act."}],[{"start":316.04,"text":"“It is very hard to collect evidence,” he said. “But when you offer incentives, whistleblowers will come out.”"}],[{"start":322.96,"text":"Data visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong"}],[{"start":330.52,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792727428_6025.mp3"}