Singapore threatens lawsuit over Indonesian wildfire haze – as oxygen tank and air purifier sales surge

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Indonesia ’s neighbours are growing angrier over the haze from its wildfires, with Singapore threatening to prosecute companies, and families across Southeast Asia are rushing to buy oxygen tanks and air purifiers. Singapore’s prime minister, Lawrence Wong, said in a recent Facebook post that his government was looking to sue companies over the wildfires. “At the same time, we are looking into which companies may be responsible for the fires,” he said, adding that he was exploring the idea of “joint action with other countries”. The next day, Singapore’s sustainability and environment minister, Grace Fu, said the National Environment Agency would issue notices under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to seven companies with concessions in Indonesia. “Our investigation so far suggested that some of the haze experienced in Singapore originated from fires on the lands of seven companies in Indonesia,” Ms Fu told a press conference. “Where warranted, we will take further action under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act based on the information and evidence available.” The notices require the companies to deploy firefighters, stop any burning and submit plans to prevent the fires returning. The companies named by Singapore, mainly pulpwood and timber suppliers in Sumatra , include Bumi Andalas Permai, Bumi Mekar Hijau and SBA Wood Industries, AFP reported. The 2014 law allows Singapore to fine companies that cause or condone fires as much as S$100,000 (about £58,000) a day, though enforcement has proved difficult. In Malaysia , Lee Lam Thye, a veteran social activist and former politician, wrote in a public letter this week that the haze returns every year, harming health, closing schools and costing billions, and that those responsible must be named, investigated and punished. “Clean air is not a favour. It is a basic right,” he wrote. Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said earlier this month that Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto had agreed to take the necessary steps, but that “this commitment must be followed by immediate and effective action from the Indonesian side to tackle the root causes of the haze”. Indonesia’s response has inflamed the anger. Syahganda Nainggolan, head of the government’s communications agency, said in a video interview with the Indonesian outlet Kompas: “We do not just send smoke, but when there is no smoke, we send oxygen.” The remark was mocked online in Malaysia, and Andrew Chen, a Malaysian state assemblyman, called it “a joke” and “unacceptable” in remarks reported by the New Straits Times. The haze has meanwhile pushed up demand for oxygen equipment across the region. AA Alive, a medical equipment company outside the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur , has seen sales rise 35 per cent because of the haze, AFP news agency reported. Its staff were working at full capacity to deliver oxygen tanks and concentrators, machines that produce oxygen from the air. Courts , a regional consumer electronics retailer, said sales of air purifiers rose 600 per cent between 28 September and 12 October, compared with the same period last year, the news agency wrote. The months-long wildfires are some of the worst Indonesia has seen, and the country has been struggling to get it under control, After weeks, it said it will accept foreign help. The country is exploring various means, including dry ice. It dispersed 2.4 tonnes of dry ice from aircraft over South Sumatra on 15 and 16 October in an effort to clear the smoke. The head of its disaster agency, Kristomei Sianturi, said the trials had been “fairly effective”, CNA reported. The health ministry has reported nearly 280,000 people with respiratory infections linked to the fires, including more than 60,000 children under five, the Guardian reported. The 11-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) raised its weather monitor’s alert to Level 3 on Friday, its highest, which it reserves for widespread moderate to dense haze observed over two or more days. Pressure is growing on Jakarta to declare a national disaster, which would unlock funds for medical costs. The haze will be discussed at ASEAN meetings ahead of a summit in Manila in November, a Philippine foreign ministry spokesman said.