Indonesia blows the haze Act back to Singapore

by Hamzah Omar Yaacob

MIND your own business. That seems to be Indonesia’s message to Singapore. If not, Indonesia will think about stopping environmental co-operation pacts with Singapore, said its Minister for Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya on Saturday, May 14.

It’s a pretty aggressive statement to make especially since she made it clear that it will be a “unilateral” review of current and future co-operation. So no need to consult Singapore, just informing the Republic of its decisions would be civil enough.

Now, now. That’s not polite.

The minister got hot under the collar because Singapore is flexing its muscle under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act. The G had obtained court warrants for a director of a haze-linked company based in Indonesia to turn up for an interview while he was here. He didn’t, so the authorities now have a court warrant to detain him when he enters the country again. It was the first time the authorities made such a move, and marks a new test for the two-year old law – which many had said would be difficult to implement when first debated in parliament in 2014.

The legislation introduces fines of up to $2 million for firms which fail to prevent, mitigate or control forest fires that cause haze in Singapore.

Some of the concerns raised back then were over the ability of the G to enforce a law targeted at actions committed in a foreign country, and the repercussions to ties with Indonesia if the G did so.

Former Nominated MP Eugene Tan said then that he was confident that the agencies would exercise “due prudence” during the debates: “To be sure, tough times call for tough measures. But this still does not take away the possibility that our neighbours may strenuously object to this law having such an extensive extra-territorial reach, if not now, certainly later.”

Unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been easy compelling foreign companies to cooperate with NEA. Since October last year, National Environment Agency served several notices for information to six Indonesian companies believed to be involved in last year’s haze. The notices required companies to provide updates to the NEA on their efforts in reducing slash and burn techniques. Up till now, only two of the six have responded. The director belongs to one of the four which has remained silent.

Indonesia has issued strong words, going as far as describing the interview that was to be attended by the director as an “interrogation”.  Singapore has insisted that the act is in line with international law. Then Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said during the 2014 debate that principles of international law “gives us the right to take action against people whose irresponsible actions elsewhere have caused harm within Singapore”.

Interestingly, the Indonesian reaction to Singapore’s legislation then was rather muted, maybe because the country was in the midst of transferring power to Mr Joko Widodo. In fact, former Environment and Forestry Minister Sonny Keraf, an advisor to the President-elect, had said the Widodo administration welcomed the stiffer fines in the Act but hoped that it would not infringe on Indonesia’s sovereignty. He also said that the new government would do more to combat environmental problems.

President Jokowi appears to have been much more forthcoming in admitting that Indonesia has a haze problem, compared to previous Indonesian presidents. During the haze season last year, he visited forest-fire areas regularly, cut short a trip to Washington, and vowed to step up efforts. In April this year, he ordered government ministries to draw up a moratorium on new concessions for oil palm plantations and land for mining activities.

But there has been a string of hiccups, besides Minister Siti’s recent comments. For instance, when Singapore offered a haze assistance package which included several military aircraft and a helicopter in August last year, it was flatly rejected. The Indonesian government only accepted the offer after local authorities struggled for two months to douse the flames of forest fires.

Then in an interview with an environmental news portal in April this year, the Minister chided Singapore’s efforts at combatting haze. “What are they doing? And where has it got them?” she asked. These episodes seem to signal Indonesia’s desire to solve the problem on its own.

Still, the viability of the Act depends on co-operation with Indonesia. Satellite imagery from monitoring sites established with Indonesia, for example, have been instrumental in providing the G with potential culprits. You can expect that the Indonesian companies will go running to hide behind their government’s shield, just as Singapore companies would the same with the G here. No country would want to look like a wimp to its own people.

Singapore’s use of the Act has gone beyond being, as some MPs had thought it would be during the debates, merely a symbolic tool to “nudge” companies worried about the impact on their operations and reputations should they be served a notice. Should the G let the matter blow over? Or will it arrest the director when he next enters Singapore? That would really cause some blow back.

 

Featured Image by Natassya Diana.

If you like this article, Like The Middle Ground‘s Facebook Page as well!

For breaking news, you can talk to us via email.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Indonesia blows the haze Act back to Singapore appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Hamzah Omar Yaacob