Singapore is threatening to prosecute companies responsible for some of the worst fires in years in neighbouring Indonesia, as the region grows increasingly frustrated with a persistent, acrid haze that could result in diplomatic relations fraying. Lawrence Wong, the Singaporean prime minister, said his government was distributing masks to vulnerable citizens and working with countries in the region to deal with the smoke. Singapore has no plantations or forests of its own, but several companies with concessions in Indonesia are reportedly based in the city-state.
Haze is a persistent problem in Indonesia, but drier-than-usual conditions mean the thick smoke has been drifting into nearby Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor-Leste, and as far afield as the Philippines and Vietnam. Millions are affected, with school closures, respiratory illness spiking and air pollution indexes reaching unhealthy levels. Malaysians and Singaporeans have been sharing images online of their cities, with skyscrapers disappearing into the smog, and frustration with the region’s most populous country is boiling over.
It affects our health, closes schools, hurts businesses, and costs us billions,” a veteran Malaysian social activist and former politician wrote in a public letter this week. Lee Lam Thye said that real enforcement and “not just polite words” were needed. Clean air is not a favour.
It is a basic right.” While Indonesia regularly battles wildfires in the dry season, these blazes are the most intense in more than a decade and exacerbated by slash-and-burn practices to clear land for agriculture, including palm oil, of which Indonesia is the world’s largest producer. Regional diplomats have offered to help Indonesia, but their offers have not always been immediately accepted. On Monday, an Indonesian official said the country was “still capable of handling it”.
By the end of the week, Jakarta said it would accept assistance Such delicate diplomacy is routine among the region’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which is built on quiet engagement and non-interference. A meeting of regional foreign ministers in the Philippines is due next month, but that might be too late. In remarks that went viral on social media, Syahganda Nainggolan, the head of Indonesia’s government communication agency, hit back at the criticism on Saturday.
He said he had been in contact with Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, “who agreed to take the necessary steps, and this commitment must be followed by immediate and effective action from the Indonesian side to tackle the root causes of the haze”. At the same time, pressure is growing on Jakarta to declare a national disaster, first from civil society groups but now also from Indonesian politicians and neighbours. According to the Jakarta Post, Indonesian students have been holding protests across Kalimantan and Sumatra, demanding accountability and government action.
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