Singapore ministers urge 10 firms to cooperate with haze investigations and announce legal amendments

Senior executives from ten firms potentially linked to haze-causing fires met with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Senior Minister K Shanmugam and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Wednesday. The brief session, attended by senior officials from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the National Environment Agency and the Ministry of Law, outlined the government’s expectations for full cooperation and announced plans to strengthen the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

“I will be making amendments to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act at the next parliament sitting to give this framework the force of law. Companies that do not comply will be committing an offence. We will exercise our powers to protect the health of Singaporeans,” Ms Fu said after the meeting.

“Haze is caused by fires. Fires are caused by irresponsible business practices. It is not a natural phenomenon,” Mr Shanmugam added, emphasizing that the investigation aims to establish facts rather than assign blame.

The ministers indicated that companies will be required to undergo independent assessments of their operations, corporate relationships and supply chains. A specialist panel of assessors, comprising investigation firms and law firms, will be appointed by the NEA, and companies will bear the cost of these assessments. Assessors will have unrestricted access to relevant information and may engage third-party experts such as remote-sensing analysts.

Mr Shanmugam said the exercise is not intended to find scapegoats and that firms with clean supply chains could use the assessment to demonstrate compliance. He warned that any lapses uncovered would be dealt with, taking the level of cooperation into account.

The government plans to announce the panel appointments soon and will consider the assessors’ findings when deciding further actions.