(Refiles to make clear that Singapore seeks map data and
company names)
By Kevin Lim
SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) – Singapore’s worst air
pollution in 16 years sparked diplomatic tension on Tuesday, as
the city-state urged Indonesia to provide data on company names
and concession maps to enable it to act against plantation firms
that allow slash-and-burn farming.
Singapore’s environment minister made the request to his
Indonesian counterpart by telephone as air pollution on the
island hit unhealthy levels for a second straight day, with some
of the worst readings since a 1997 regional haze crisis.
“We need to exert commercial pressure against companies
causing the haze,” Environment and Water Resources Minister
Vivian Balakrishnan said on his Facebook page, without saying
what measures Singapore might take.
“We are also waiting for Indonesia to publish the concession
maps. The combination of satellite photos, which are updated
daily, and these concession maps would enable us to pinpoint the
errant companies,” he added.
Indonesia’s environment minister could not be reached for
comment, but senior official Sony Partono told Reuters, “Foreign
parties should not be interfering with our domestic affairs.”
He added, “The most important thing is that we have
attempted to control the damage resulting from the forest
fires,” and said fire trucks had been dispatched to affected
areas.
Plantation companies with land concessions in Indonesia
include Wilmar International Ltd, Golden
Agri-Resources Ltd and First Resources Ltd.
Singapore’s pollutant standards index (PSI) rose to an
unhealthy 155 on Monday night, prompting the U.S. embassy to
advise Americans planning a visit to consult their doctors about
the effects of air pollution.
Visibility improved slightly on Tuesday and the PSI score
slipped back to a “moderate” level of 85 after peaking at 123 in
the morning.
A map on the site of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations’ (ASEAN) Specialized Meteorological Centre showed dozens
of satellite-detected fires on Sumatra island on Tuesday with
winds blowing east towards Singapore.
The haze has also enveloped some parts of neighbouring
Malaysia, with four regions suffering “unhealthy” PSI levels
above 100 for a second day.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak took to his Twitter
page on Tuesday to advise people to reduce outdoor activities
and drink plenty of water, warning that the haze was expected to
worsen.
HAZY PROGRESS
Images of smog-shrouded Southeast Asian cities this week
have highlighted the limited progress the region has made in
fighting the problem since 1997, when the haze caused an
estimated $9 billion in economic, social and environmental
losses.
The illegal burning of forests to clear land for palm oil
plantations is a recurrent problem in Indonesia, particularly
during the annual dry season from June to September. Yet
Indonesia is the only ASEAN member not to have ratified a 2002
pact on preventing haze pollution.
“Without the (Indonesian) republic, especially since the
hotspots are found mainly there, little can be done,” Malaysia’s
New Straits Times said in an editorial on Tuesday.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has vastly
expanded its palm oil plantations in the past decade, overtaking
Malaysia to become the world’s biggest supplier. In doing so it
has cleared huge swathes of forest and peatland areas.
Corruption and Indonesia’s decentralised political system
have hindered efforts to stem the haze problem, said Jackson
Ewing, a researcher at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security
at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
“Burning is quick, efficient and requires very little labour
to clear land,” he said.
“Government actors at the local level are colluding with
private interests and central government authorities have
difficulty influencing what is happening on the ground.”
(Additional reporting by Dhea Renaldi in Jakarta and Stuart
Grudgings in Kuala Lumpur; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing
by Clarence Fernandez)
REFILE-Singapore pressures Indonesia to identify firms behind haze
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