S’pore committed to tackling haze issue with Indonesia, other ASEAN countries: MFA
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Government will continue to “enhance bilateral, regional and international cooperation to tackle the root causes of the fires that cause haze”, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson in a press statement today (Oct 25).
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Government will continue to “enhance bilateral, regional and international cooperation to tackle the root causes of the fires that cause haze”, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson in a press statement today (Oct 25).
On Oct 10, a Singapore team comprising of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel was deployed to Indonesia to help in its fire-fighting efforts. The team returned home yesterday after two weeks, having discharged more than 400,000 litres of water and doused more than 50 hotspots.
Over the last 10 years, the Singapore government has offered haze assistance packages to Indonesia and the assistance this year is in line with what the Indonesian government had requested, MFA said.
“Over the last two weeks, the SAF and the SCDF have worked tirelessly in very difficult conditions to assist Indonesia in its fire-fighting efforts.
The deployment was a demonstration of Singapore’s commitment to work closely with Indonesia, and other affected countries, to address an annual problem which continues to affect Indonesia and many countries in the region, particularly the health and livelihoods of our peoples,” said the MFA.
Reinforcing the need for effective preventive action against a protracted haze situation, the Government said it will continue to serve legal notices to errant companies responsible for the haze through the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA). So far, notices to five errant companies have been served.
“We look forward to Indonesia’s response to our repeated requests to share information on these companies, following its agreement to do so on Sept 27. This information will be critical in helping Singapore to take the fullest course of legal action against these companies under the THPA,” MFA said.
The cooperation will extend beyond Indonesia, and include other ASEAN countries affected by the haze.
The MFA added: “ASEAN must take firm and decisive action, through enhanced regional cooperation, to help prevent the recurrence of this transboundary problem. Singapore will work closely with other ASEAN countries to fully operationalise the ASEAN Haze Monitoring System, and other cooperative initiatives.”
The haze situation has adversely affected countries in the neighbouring region, causing Singapore and parts of Malaysia to force schools to close and airlines to cancel flights. While Thailand usually avoids the worst effects of Indonesia’s fires, prevailing winds in recent weeks have driven the smog further north, resulting in the country having the worst polluting levels in a decade. WONG CASANDRA