Malaysia: ‘Too early to say if Singapore law effective’

New Straits Times 28 Sep 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will need to pass a law similar to Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to take legal action against firms suspected of starting haze-related forest fires abroad.

Global Environment Centre director Faizal Parish said the Singaporean law, passed last year, allowed regulators to fine or sue individuals or companies for activities leading to haze in the city-state.

“Essentially, anyone that contributes to the exporting of haze to Singapore can be made to pay substantial damages,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
However, he said, it was too early to see whether such a law would prove effective, given the difficulties in establishing a causal link between the companies and the rising levels of air pollution.

“One of the big challenges is proving that the company being sued is the source of the haze in Singapore,” he said, adding that the law had been criticised by some Indonesian officials for overstepping judicial boundaries.

While no plans for similar laws have been announced here, Malaysian authorities could punish local companies based in Indonesia for failing to take action to prevent fires, Faizal said.

He said major Malaysian companies that operated or owned subsidiaries in Indonesia had put in place policies against harmful practices, such as slash and burn, but some entities faced problems in monitoring their estates for fires caused by other reasons.

Some fires, he said, were caused by land clearing carried out by illegal trespassers or by villagers living in or near the estates.

“Many companies have strong policies in place, but the situation is more complex on the ground.”

“In such cases, it could be possible for the Malaysian government to take action against the firms for negligence,” he said, citing the case of a Malaysian plantation manager who was convicted by an Indonesian court last year for being negligent in supervising the estate owned by his employer, PT ADEI Plantation and Industry.

ADEI, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, was also fined for violating Indonesia’s Environmental Protection and Management Law 2009.

Faizal was speaking in response to Singapore’s announcement on Saturday that it had filed legal notices against five Indonesian companies blamed for farm and plantation fires.

The companies were multinational Asia Pulp and Paper, Rimba Hutani Mas, Sebangun Bumi Andalas Wood Industries, Bumi Sriwijaya Sentosa and Wachyuni Mandira.