‘They may think that they can escape scrutiny’: Singapore cracks down on Indonesian companies spreading ‘entirely preventable’ smog across the border

Singapore will issue preventive notices to three more Indonesian companies to tackle and prevent forest fires in Kalimantan province that may have sent smoke across the border , the National Environment Agency said Monday.

This brings to 10 the number of Indonesian companies that Singapore is targeting under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

The National Environment Agency said in a statement that it sent preventive measure notices last Friday to seven Indonesian agroforestry companies linked to fires in Sumatra province .

Since then, it said that there were indications that smoke from fires in the Kalimantan province on lands held via concessions under three additional companies in Indonesia could also have moved to Singapore.

As such, it said it would also send preventive measure notices to the three companies in Kalimantan: PT Buana Megatama Jaya, PT Mananjung Hayak and PT Baratama Putra Perkasa.

The notices require the companies to deploy firefighting personnel to extinguish fires or prevent them from spreading on land they own or occupy, the agency said in a statement.

They must also stop any ongoing burning activities, refrain from starting new ones and submit action plans detailing measures to put out fires and prevent them from recurring.

The earlier seven companies are pulpwood supplier PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT SBA Wood Industries, PT Hutan Lestari Raya and PT Bangkanesia.

The notices don’t amount to a finding that the companies are legally responsible for the haze in Singapore.

But they allow prosecution and financial penalties if the legal requirements for an offense are met.

Forest and land fires in Indonesia have sent thick haze across neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia, pushing air pollution to unhealthy and hazardous levels in some areas, disrupting daily life and prompting school closures and public health measures.

The smoke has also turned skies orange in parts of Kalimantan.

Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry has recorded more than 2,020 square kilometers (780 square miles) of burned land between January and July, while the Nusantara Atlas project estimated that nearly 8,960 square kilometers (3,460 square miles) had burned by the end of August.

Singapore Coordinating Minister for National Security K.