Asia Pulp and Paper Company to do more to battle forest fires in Indonesia
SINGAPORE – As its firefighting teams work round the clock to manage forest fires on its suppliers’ land in Indonesia, Asia Pulp and Paper Company (APP) said it was bringing in additional resources from across its supply chain to battle the blaze.
A forest fire is seen from a helicopter operated by the National Agency for Disaster Management over Langgam District, Riau province on the island of Sumatra September 23, 2015. Photo: Antara Foto via Reuters
SINGAPORE – As its firefighting teams work round the clock to manage forest fires on its suppliers’ land in Indonesia, Asia Pulp and Paper Company (APP) said it was bringing in additional resources from across its supply chain to battle the blaze.
Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday said it had served a notice to APP, one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies, under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, seeking information on its subsidiaries in Singapore and Indonesia, as well as measures taken by its suppliers in Indonesia to put out fires in their concessions.
The NEA’s action comes as smoke from raging forest fires in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan pushed air quality to unhealthy levels in Singapore for several days over the past fortnight.
APP, a member of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group, has an office in Singapore. “We are coordinating with the relevant parties the appropriate responses to the NEA,” it said in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia yesterday (Sept 26).
It added that the causes of fire are “highly complex”. “They involve the rights of local communities, illegal activity by small and medium enterprises and fundamental complexities over land use rights, spatial planning and maps, ownership and protection. This is why we are working with other stakeholders to focus on prevention and to find a long term solution to the causes of fire,” APP said.
The company said it takes forest fire “very seriously” and has operated a “Zero Burning” policy in its supply chain since 1996.
APP products include Enlivo notebooks, Inspira paper and Paseo tissue paper.
Supermarket chain FairPrice, which carries APP products, said it is seeking clarification from the company on the notice from NEA.
“FairPrice cares for our environment and encourages our partners to adopt sustainable practices in their operations. We are deeply concerned over this matter and are in contact with our suppliers to seek clarification from them,” its spokesperson said. CHANNEL NEWSASIA
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