Jakarta, Indonesia, 20 June 2013 – Singapore representatives met with Indonesian officials today in Jakarta to discuss the severe haze situation at an urgent meeting in Jakarta this afternoon. The meeting was arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and involved senior Indonesian officials[1].
2 The Singapore delegation, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Environment Agency (NEA), Mr Andrew Tan, expressed Singapore’s serious concerns over the severe haze situation to Mr Yuri Thamrin, Director General for Asia-Pacific and African Affairs of Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who chaired the meeting.Singapore also stressed that haze remains a transboundary problem that affects not only Indonesia but regional countries. Indonesia assured Singapore that it would give the issue greater attention. (Refer to Annex A for NEA’s CEO opening remarks at the meeting).
3 At the meeting, Indonesia briefed Singapore of its plans to increase their capacity to deal with the fires and to get their agencies to report twice a day to a national task force chaired by Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, Agung Laksono. Indonesia also intends to step up its law enforcement on the ground by sending investigators to Bengkalis to clamp down on errant plantation companies. Singapore noted the ongoing measures and urged the authorities to step up their efforts.
4 As there had been a report from the Indonesian Forestry Ministry that Singapore companies may be involved in illegal burning activities, Singapore requested that Indonesia share the names of such errant companies, though the primary responsibility to take legal and enforcement action against these companies lie with Indonesia. It was emphasised that it would be better if Indonesia reveal all the companies involved in such errant acts regardless of whether they are registered in Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore so that they can all be brought to task. The haze is after all a transnational issue.
5 Singapore also offered Indonesia an assistance package, similar to previous haze episodes which includes among other things, an aircraft for cloud seeding operations as well high resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates. (Refer to Annex B for a chronology of Singapore’s haze assistance.) Indonesia said they would consider these proposals. Singapore also requested Indonesia to ratify the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement which Indonesia signed in 2002. Indonesia informed Singapore that they would be seeking their parliament’s approval on this.
6 Singapore reiterated its commitment to work with Indonesia at both bilateral and regional levels to tackle the haze. (Refer to Annex C for Singapore’s bilateral and regional efforts in tackling haze). Singapore stands ready to collaborate at the provincial level as agreed at the Leaders Retreat in April this year. Indonesia will also consider agreeing to the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution to be brought forward from August this year. Singapore also requested Indonesia to share its concession maps for the overlaying of hotspot data as discussed by the MSC Technical Task Force.
7 Speaking after the meeting, CEO of NEA said, “We had a frank and useful exchange of views where we conveyed the deep concerns of the public over the deteriorating haze situation. Both sides recognised that the situation was serious and needed urgent attention. We urged Indonesia to take decisive actions to stop the fires and prevent further burning with the onset of the dry season. We reiterated the points and offers raised by Singapore’s Environment and Foreign Affairs Ministers when they spoke with their counterparts on 18 June. The meeting agreed to consider these and other suggestions made to them. Singapore hopes to work closely with Indonesia to make further progress together in the near future.
[1] The Indonesian officials comprised representatives from the State Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Forestry and National Agency for Meteorological Climatology and Geophysics and the National Agency for Disaster Management.
Opening Remarks by Mr Andrew Tan on 20 June 2013 in Jakarta at the
Emergency Meeting with Indonesia on Transboundary Haze
Pak Yuri
Colleagues
1 Thank you for arranging this meeting with your agencies. It is most timely and relevant. As you can see from the presentation of my colleagues, the hotspot situation is deteriorating and could worsen if further measures are not undertaken to stop the burning as we enter into the traditional dry season.
2 The haze affecting Singapore has worsened dramatically in the last week. We are now in an unprecedented situation. Our 24-hour PSI reading entered the unhealthy range on 18 June and has remained in that range since. The 24-hour PSI at 12 noon today was 232– 291 (unhealthy range) and the 3-hour PSI at 1pm was 371 which is in the hazardous range. The young, elderly, and sickly have been the most vulnerable, and those prone to asthma are seeing their conditions aggravated by the haze. Besides health and public safety concerns, the haze has already disrupted the normal lives of our public. If the current haze situation worsens, more Singaporeans will have to stay indoors and we may even have to issue general stop-work orders. Childcare centres and schools may also be closed. Singaporeans are naturally concerned and frustrated with the situation.
3 The number of hotspots has been increasing since 12 June. The latest satellite imageries yesterday evening detected 187 hotspots in Sumatra, mainly in Riau and Jambi. We understand that visibility in parts of Riau is poor and the airport in Dumai was closed yesterday. Our neighbours in Malaysia have also been affected by the smoke haze. We are deeply concerned about the deteriorating haze situation which looks likely to persist given the prevailing dry weather and southwesterly wind conditions.
4 The region has experienced several serious episodes of haze in 1994, 1997 and 2006. Despite the measures that we have undertaken, haze remains a recurring problem. Although there has been some progress made, there is much more that can and must be done at the national and regional levels.
5 In terms of bilateral collaboration, our cooperation in haze extends beyond the usual information exchanges. Our cooperation goes all the way back to 1997 when we set up air quality monitoring equipment in Jambi and Pontianak. More recently, Singapore and the Jambi provincial government have successfully collaborated on a project to jointly develop a Master Plan to deal with land and forest fires in Muaro Jambi Regency and implemented 9 action programme. The collaboration included the provision of air quality monitoring equipment and training of officials in GIS and satellite information interpretation, among other things. Between 2005 and 2012, Singapore had also provided assistance packages comprising high-resolution satellite pictures, aircraft for cloud seeding operations, and fire fighting assistance.
6 Regionally, Singapore has offered assistance to fellow ASEAN member countries by hosting the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), contributed to the ASEAN Haze Fund and conducted courses under the Regional Haze Training Network (RHTN) established under the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution.
7 We note Indonesia’s efforts in combating haze by taking immediate actions to address burning activities on the ground. We understand that Indonesia has been taking steps to strengthen its domestic laws and regulations against polluters of the environment over the years.
8 But there are growing concerns in this region on the impact of transboundary haze on public health, environment, tourism, business and the economy. Haze is a recurrent issue that has affected Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. ASEAN’s international image will suffer as a result of our inability to resolve a long-standing issue. We would like to propose holding the 15th MSC meeting earlier than planned to discuss measures to mitigate the situation before the height of the haze season in August. We also look forward to Indonesia ratifying the ASEAN Haze Agreement.
9 We read from media reports that there are Malaysian and Singapore palm oil companies who may be responsible for starting the fires. I wish to assure you that Singapore respects Indonesia’s sovereignty. Our companies operating out of Singapore are expected to follow the laws of the land. If the companies have violated the laws, they should be prosecuted and brought to justice. We hope Indonesia will take prompt and urgent action to resolve the issue. Singapore will support Indonesia’s enforcement actions against the errant companies. If you have information you can share with us on the companies, we would be happy to take this back and work together with you to ensure that the companies do not get away with actions that are hurting public health and environment. It would be even better if Indonesia can reveal all the companies involved in such errant acts regardless of whether they are registered in Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore so that they can all be brought to task. The haze is after all a transnational issue.
10 Allow me to reiterate Singapore’s commitment to work constructively at the bilateral and regional levels to tackle the haze problem. Singapore will continue to provide assistance in the provision of high resolution satellite pictures and aircraft for cloud seeding operations, should you require. We look forward to Indonesia’s cooperation and further actions on this front both in the immediate and long-term.
11 Thank you.
ANNEX B
|
Year
|
Assistance
|
|
1997
|
Provided equipment such as computers, Global Positioning System (GPS) sets, binoculars and modems |
|
Nov 1997
|
Set up air quality monitoring equipment in Jambi & Pontianak
|
|
Feb 2001
|
Conducted training course on health effects of haze
|
|
Jul 2002
|
Conducted training course on air quality monitoring
|
|
Aug 2003
|
Conducted training courses on geographical information system/satellite information interpretation |
|
2005
|
Deployed following assets as part of Singapore’s assistance
|
|
2006
|
Offered Assistance Package but not taken up
|
|
2007 -2011
|
Jambi Collaboration comprising 9 Action Plans, including provision of weather and air quality monitoring stations |
|
2008 -2012
|
Offered Assistance Package as in 2006 but not taken up
|
|
Nov 2011
|
Conducted Regional Haze Training Network (RHTN) Course on Satellite Imageries Interpretations |
|
May 2012
|
Conducted RHTN Course on Haze and Peatland Management
|
|
Since 1997
|
NEA provides satellite pictures of “hotspots”, together with the coordinates of the hotspots, to Indonesian authorities (Indonesian Environment & Forestry Ministries, and provincial governments – Riau and Jambi). |
ANNEX C
Bilateral and Regional Efforts to Tackle Haze
Introduction
1 Singapore has been engaging Indonesia at the following regional platforms to discuss transboundary haze issues:
Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) and Technical Working Group (TWG) on Transboundary Haze Pollution
2 The formation of the MSC, comprising Environment Ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, was mooted by the Sub-Regional Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2006. MSC oversees the implementation of the enhanced measures to prevent the recurrence of smoke haze from land and forest in Sumatra, and Borneo, while the TWG serves to support the work of the MSC.
3 At the 14th MSC in October 2012, Singapore shared with the Environment Ministers how readily available technologies such as Google Earth could be used for hotspot monitoring, as such technologies have also been used in non-governmental organisation initiatives. The Ministers acknowledged that these technologies, together with digital geo-referenced concession maps, would enable MSC member states to enhance hotspot monitoring and aid in their countries’ efforts to hold plantation companies and land owners responsible.
4 The Ministers agreed to explore the sharing of such maps by MSC member states, as well as the proposed formation of an MSC Technical Task Force (MTTF) to develop a fire monitoring platform at the MSC level.
5 The 1st MTTF meeting was held on 20 and 21 February 2013 in Singapore, and comprised the Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and ASEAN secretariat. The meeting agreed to the following Plan of Action to be undertaken by MSC countries before the next TWG/ MSC meeting: