Shanmugam calls Indonesian counterpart to convey 'deep concern' over haze

Mr Shanmugam emphasised that all ASEAN states should fulfil their obligations under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze signed by all of the group's 10 members.
Channel NewsAsia 18 Sep 15;

SINGAPORE: With hazy conditions set to persist in Singapore, Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam called Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi on Friday (Sep 18) to express deep concern about the haze situation.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mr Shanmugam highlighted to Mr Retno that the haze situation had attracted international attention, and there is focus on how regional countries are dealing with the issue.

During their conversation, Mr Shanmugam also told Mr Retno that the recurrence of the haze has both immediate and long-term health impacts on Singaporeans and others in the region. Mr Shanmugam added that the haze has a negative economic impact on the entire region, including Indonesia. To effectively combat the haze issue, greater regional efforts and cooperation are needed, he said.

Mr Shanmugam also emphasised that all ASEAN states should follow through and fulfil their obligations under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze which all 10 ASEAN members have signed. This includes operationalising the ASEAN Haze Monitoring System.

The steps taken thus far by the Indonesian government to address the haze issue - including the declaration of states of emergency in provinces affected and its investigations on errant companies suspected of causing the fires - was welcomed by Mr Shanmugam, said MFA.

He said strong action needed to be taken against those companies, and urged the Indonesian authorities to share the names of those companies so Singapore can take action against them.

"Minister Retno said that the names of errant companies would be conveyed through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia to the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources," said MFA, adding that Mr Shanmugam welcomed this and said Singapore would take action against the companies to the fullest extent of its laws once the names were provided.

Mr Shanmugam also emphasised to Mr Retno the importance of finding a longer-term solution to address the causes of the haze, MFA said.

Indonesia has yet to accept an offer from Singapore to deploy Singapore Armed Forces aircraft to help douse the forest fires. It initially accepted the offer only to turn it down days later.

- CNA/dl

Haze now has world’s attention, Shanmugam tells Jakarta
Today Online 18 Sep 15;

SINGAPORE — In a telephone call today (Sept 18) to express deep concern over the ongoing haze situation in Singapore, Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said to his Indonesian counterpart that the haze had attracted international attention, and there was focus on how regional countries were dealing with it.

Noting that transboundary haze had a negative economic impact on the entire region, Mr Shanmugam sought greater regional cooperation and stressed that member states of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) should fulfil their obligations under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which includes operationalising the ASEAN Haze Monitoring System.

Mr Shanmugam’s comments during his call to Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi were outlined in a statement issued by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. Mr Shanmugam said strong action needs to be taken against errant companies behind the forest fires in Indonesia. He welcomed Ms Retno’s statement that the names of these errant companies would be conveyed to Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, said Singapore would take action to the fullest extent of its laws once the names are provided. He also welcomed steps taken by the Indonesian government to combat the haze and stressed the importance of a longer-term solution to address the causes behind the recurrent problem.

Separately, Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in a press conference today that the authorities will begin naming several companies from next week. Sanctions they could face for starting fires include the withdrawal of their licences.

Air quality in Singapore deteriorated today because of haze blown in by the wind.

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index at 8pm was 79 to 92, in the moderate range. The one-hour PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) at 8pm was 63 to 87 microgrammes per cubic metre.

Occasional hazy conditions are expected tomorrow, with air quality ranging from moderate to unhealthy, said the National Environment Agency.


Indonesia decision on haze help up to Jokowi
Indonesia's environment minister says the country's president must decide whether to accept Singapore's offer to help battle forest fires in Sumatra.
Saifulbahri Ismail and Sujadi Siswo, Channel NewsAsia 18 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government has not yet decided if it will accept help from Singapore to put out the forests fires currently raging in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

At a news conference on Friday (Sep 18), Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said the decision on whether to accept help or not is a national decision to be made by President Joko Widodo.

Ms Siti told reporters that in her previous conversation with Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore had offered to send one Chinook helicopter, one water bombing aircraft and a team to conduct assessment works.

She said she appreciated Singapore's offer of help and hopes the republic is able to send more aircraft to fight the fires.

Indonesia has already activated 24 aircraft in its efforts to extinguish the fires. President Widodo ordered the mobilisation of hundreds more troops and enforcement officers to tackle the forest fires, which have caused air quality to reach hazardous levels in Riau.

Earlier this week, Indonesian media reported that vice-president Jusuf Kalla had called on Singapore to help. "Singapore please come and tackle the haze because the effect is also felt by Singapore. Everyone dislikes it and we have put in extra effort to tackle the fires," he said.

On Friday, Mr Kalla told reporters that forest burning in Sumatra is part of a natural risk that should be accepted by neighbouring countries. "Neighbouring countries already enjoy 11 months of clean fresh air from Indonesia, thus if they suffer from the haze in a month, that is just a risk," he said.

He also mentioned that forest fires in Sumatra were part of a "natural disaster", adding that forest fires also occurred in the United States in the Californian forest area.

He said currently, Indonesia was putting effort to extinguish the fires in Sumatra. "It's a nature problem. We are already trying very hard and spent money deploying almost 20 planes to extinguish the fire, but it's difficult to handle."

Minister Siti Nurbaya will be meeting with her Malaysian counterpart next week in Jakarta, to discuss how to tackle the haze crisis.

Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Jaafar earlier said a memorandum of understanding would be signed between the two countries, along with Singapore, Brunei and Thailand on what actions to take. They will also explore how to help Indonesia put out the fires.

However, Dr Wan Junaidi later told Channel NewsAsia his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, meant to take place next Friday, was postponed indefinitely. He added: "Jakarta must have the political will to solve the perennial haze menace once and for all."

Currently, Indonesian law dictates that provinces will have to declare an emergency before the central government and foreign countries can help. The meeting is aimed at reducing red tape and speeding up the provision of aid.

LOCALS PLEAD INNOCENCE

Ogan Komering Ilir - east of South Sumatra province - has the highest number of hotspots.

“There are fires from the land of plantation companies. They are also caused by cigarette butts and there is land burned for clearing, for a variety of reasons. There are many irresponsible people," said Dani, a resident.

Other villagers argued that they have already stopped clearing their land using the slash and burn technique.

“Villagers will only burn their land after they have cordoned the area to prevent the fire from spreading. They won’t start the fire if it can possibly spread, so the burning was done earlier. During the fire-prone period - which is now - no villagers will burn their land. We are not allowed to anymore," said farmer Ogan Komering Illir.

South Sumatran authorities are blaming the weather, saying they underestimated the severity of the dry spell.

"We started water-bombing and weather modification in July. At that time there was no fire. There was no hotspot. But we made the peat land wet. But suddenly on August 26, boom, because that was the peak of the hot season; very extreme," said South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin.

So far, Indonesia has arrested executives from seven companies accused of contributing to the haze and air pollution in the region. More than 20 companies in South Sumatra are now under investigation and some are foreign-owned.

“Some people have already been arrested. Some companies have already been accused. But we need to have proof otherwise we have difficulties in the court. So investigations are now in progress," Mr Nordin said.

MALAYSIA EVACUATIONS

Meantime, there was a slight improvement in haze levels in Singapore on Thursday, but the air quality remained unhealthy for the east Malaysian state of Sarawak. Authorities say schools in Sarawak will remain closed.

Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed it would evacuate 173 Malaysians badly affected by the haze in Pekanbaru. Two Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 aircraft will be deployed to evacuate the group.

On Wednesday, the air pollutant index registered readings above 200 and there were also some disruptions to air traffic due to poor visibility.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency said the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading was expected to remain within the moderate range for much of Thursday due to prevailing wind conditions.

Slightly hazy conditions can be expected if the wind changes direction.

- CNA/Merdeka.com/jb/al