Three Singapore firms agree to voluntary haze assessments
TSH Resources, Bumitama Agri and Kencana Agri will engage a government specialist panel to assess their links to regional fires that caused transboundary haze, doing so voluntarily and at their own expense.
Three Singapore-registered companies linked to regional fires that have contributed to transboundary haze have agreed to cooperate with a specialist assessment panel. The firms – TSH Resources, Bumitama Agri and Kencana Agri – were summoned to a closed-door meeting on Oct. 28 with Senior Minister K. Shanmugam, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
Senior Minister Shanmugam told the companies they must engage a firm from the specialist panel to conduct thorough inquiries into their operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.
TSH Resources, which was not directly named in the notices but whose subsidiaries TSH Global Plantation and TSH Oversea were among the ten notified firms, said in a filing on Nov. 2 that it has written to the National Environment Agency confirming its “very keen” intent to engage the assessors voluntarily and at its own cost. The company added that it will cooperate in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements and shares the Government’s concern over the fires and haze.
Bumitama Agri made a similar statement, confirming its commitment to voluntarily engage the assessors at its own expense and to cooperate as directed by the agency.
Kencana Agri also confirmed in a Nov. 1 filing that it will voluntarily engage the panel’s assessors and cooperate with the authorities.
All three firms said they will provide further updates when material developments occur. On Nov. 2, TSH Resources shares were unchanged at 36 cents, Kencana Agri shares were flat at 48 cents, and Bumitama Agri shares fell 3.29% to $1.47.