SINGAPORE: Singapore’s parliament moved on Wednesday to strengthen its anti-haze law by introducing arrest powers, higher fines and potential restrictions on companies linked to transboundary air pollution caused by wildfires.
The proposed changes, which are expected to pass easily, come after weeks of air pollution from fires in neighbouring Indonesia angered Singaporeans and led to calls for action.
“We need better ways to obtain and verify information, trace complex corporate relationships, and impose meaningful consequences on errant entities,” Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said.
“We also need to be able to intervene earlier before haze pollution reaches Singapore. We therefore have to strengthen our laws, and we must act quickly.”
Singapore enacted the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014, but enforcement has been hampered by jurisdictional barriers and difficulties in obtaining evidence from overseas.
The government came under pressure to strengthen existing measures after thick haze from fires burning in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo drifted across the region.
The proposed changes would make offences under the law arrestable and allow courts to try defendants in their absence if they are overseas or cannot be reached.
Fines would increase tenfold to nearly $800,000 a day for companies found to be non-compliant, while the maximum total fines would rise to more than $15.6 million.
The government would also be empowered to require companies to appoint independent assessors, at their own expense, to investigate fires, business operations and corporate relationships.
The assessors would be approved by the government and submit their findings to officials for possible further action. Appointing an assessor would not imply wrongdoing, but would help determine possible links to fires.
The changes would also allow authorities to impose restrictions on designated companies, including limiting their access to financial services.
Companies blaming third parties for fires affecting their land would also have to demonstrate that they had taken reasonable steps to prevent and fight the blazes.
The changes have been certified as urgent, allowing them to be debated and voted on quickly. They are expected to pass easily in a legislature dominated by the ruling People’s Action Party.
Under existing legislation, Singapore has already issued warnings to 10 companies, telling them to deploy firefighters, stop burning and submit action plans.
Fires in Indonesia burned through more than 1.9 million hectares between January and the end of September, with most occurring in recent months, according to the Nusantara Atlas monitor.
The fires have been driven partly by drought linked to a strong El Niño phenomenon, but are also caused by longstanding deforestation and the drying of peatlands, experts say.
