Shanmugam, Gan Kim Yong & Grace Fu meet with 10 S'pore-based companies linked to haze - Mothership

All 10 firms were represented at the meeting.

met with senior leaders of the 10 Singapore-based companies served legal notices over the transboundary haze on Oct. 28.

During the meeting, SM Shanmugam outlined what the government expects of the companies and how they will be assessed under the notices.

"I have asked to meet you personally because the haze situation is serious. We want to be clear about the government's position. And what we expect from each of you."

He also revealed that the government also intends to table amendments to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) in Parliament in November.

All were represented at the meeting, with eight representatives present, as Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and TSH Global Plantation and TSH Overseas each shared representatives across their entities.

SM Shanmugam said all companies have a corporate presence and stake in Singapore, as well as a responsibility to ensure that their operations and supply chains do not contribute to the haze.

The government takes this seriously and is determined to act, he stressed.

"We will pursue all available legal and regulatory avenues. We will use all the powers we have to establish responsibility, where there is responsibility.

And we will hold those responsible to account.

And if the facts show that there is no wrongdoing – we will proceed on that basis as well."

On Oct. 23, it was announced that the National Environment Agency (NEA) served legal notices under the THPA to the 10 firms.

Through the notices, it is seeking details on the companies' links to associated firms, their land concessions, fire prevention measures, and firefighting efforts by the firms or their associated companies on the ground.

"These are formal statutory notices," SM Shanmugam said. "They are not routine requests for information."

Representatives of firms that do not comply with the notices face a fine of up to S$5,000, up to one month's jail, or both.

"We expect your companies to respond fully, accurately, and promptly.

We expect substantive cooperation and transparency, not merely technical compliance, or lawyered responses which don’t deal with the substance.

Your companies must make every effort to provide the information needed to establish the facts."

SM Shanmugam also outlined the assessment process during the meeting.

Each company is expected to engage a team of assessors from a Specialist Panel of law, audit and investigative firms with expertise in cross-border inquiries that the government will set up.

Each team comprises an investigations firm and a law firm that advises the investigations firm, not the company.

The teams will be assigned by NEA, which will set their terms of reference, areas, issues, and questions they would like the assessors to look at, and the companies will pay them.

Companies are expected to give assessors full access to information, documents, premises and people on their operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.

Assessors may engage third parties, such as remote sensing and geospatial analysts who analyse satellite hotspot data.

Assessors will then submit a report to NEA through law firm Davinder Singh Chambers (DSC LLC), the government's appointed adviser, which coordinates the panel's work.

This report will be considered by NEA when assessing further steps.

SM Shanmugam said the assessment should help clear companies that are not involved in the fires and have clean supply chains.

Any lapses will have to be dealt with, and the level of cooperation will be taken into account.

The amendments to the THPA will give legal force to this framework, SM Shanmugam said.

Under them, NEA will be able to direct any entity suspected of contributing or being connected to the fires to appoint assessors, and failure to comply will be an offence.

Assessors will also have full access to documents, information and sites, and can look into an entity's operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.

Failure to cooperate fully will also be an offence.

SM Shanmugam urged companies to agree to the process immediately and engage assessors soon, without waiting for a formal notice.

He added that they will be naming the CEOs and companies that voluntarily commit, and will update members of the public on it.

It will not be a one-off process, he added, as the government intends for there to be regular evaluations and certifications by assessors.

"The haze has caused real harm to Singapore and Singaporeans," SM Shanmugam said. "We cannot treat this as an unavoidable fact of life or business. The health and well-being of Singaporeans must come first."

He said the government will also pursue the facts for as long as it takes and strengthen laws as needed.

"It cannot be business as usual, even after the haze is over."

He added that they also expect full cooperation and compliance from the companies involved.

"The intention of this exercise is not to find scapegoats. Nor is it to fix blame for public or political reasons.

You know the Singapore government. We will do what is right.

From our perspective, we need to deal with issues that affect Singapore. And we need to be sure that companies which are here conduct their operations in a manner that doesn’t affect Singapore or the region."