Singapore breathes easy as fires doused
Source: Agencies |
June 23, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AIR quality in Singapore improved significantly to "moderate" pollution levels yesterday, as Indonesian planes water-bombed raging forest fires and investigators scrambled to determine the cause of one of Southeast Asia's worst air pollution crises.
Indonesia's environment minister said eight domestic firms were suspected of being responsible for the blazes on Sumatra island that blanketed neighboring Singapore in record levels of hazardous smog. The parent companies of the Indonesian firms included Malaysia-listed Sime Darby and Singapore's Wilmar Group.
A senior presidential aide on Friday also blamed units of Jakarta-based PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) for the fires.
"We will take legal action whoever they are," Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya told reporters. "Any companies from Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore, they will be legally processed."
Under Indonesian law, any company or person proven to be involved in an illegal forest fire could face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 5 billion rupiah (US$503,800).
Sime Darby and APRIL said there were no fires in any of their operating areas in Indonesia.
SMART and Wilmar said they both had a "zero burning" policy and that most, if not all, the fires raging in and near their concessions were caused by the local community.
Singapore has warned the "haze" - which has fuelled fears about health problems and raised diplomatic tension in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia - could last for weeks, or even longer.
Indonesia has deployed military planes to fight the blazes on Sumatra island from illegal burning that typically takes place in the June to September dry season to clear space for palm oil plantations. On the sixth day of the thick smoke, Singapore's pollution index eased to the "moderate" zone with readings as low as 77. It hit a record of 401 on Friday afternoon, a level considered potentially life-threatening for the ill and the elderly.
Indonesia's environment minister said eight domestic firms were suspected of being responsible for the blazes on Sumatra island that blanketed neighboring Singapore in record levels of hazardous smog. The parent companies of the Indonesian firms included Malaysia-listed Sime Darby and Singapore's Wilmar Group.
A senior presidential aide on Friday also blamed units of Jakarta-based PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) for the fires.
"We will take legal action whoever they are," Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya told reporters. "Any companies from Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore, they will be legally processed."
Under Indonesian law, any company or person proven to be involved in an illegal forest fire could face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 5 billion rupiah (US$503,800).
Sime Darby and APRIL said there were no fires in any of their operating areas in Indonesia.
SMART and Wilmar said they both had a "zero burning" policy and that most, if not all, the fires raging in and near their concessions were caused by the local community.
Singapore has warned the "haze" - which has fuelled fears about health problems and raised diplomatic tension in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia - could last for weeks, or even longer.
Indonesia has deployed military planes to fight the blazes on Sumatra island from illegal burning that typically takes place in the June to September dry season to clear space for palm oil plantations. On the sixth day of the thick smoke, Singapore's pollution index eased to the "moderate" zone with readings as low as 77. It hit a record of 401 on Friday afternoon, a level considered potentially life-threatening for the ill and the elderly.
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