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SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore will be proposing changes to its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) to give it more teeth when Parliament sits next week, said Senior Minister K. Shanmugam on Oct 28.<\/p>\n
Under the amendments, firms linked to the haze<\/span><\/a> must give appointed investigators full access to information, corporate documents and business premises.<\/p>\n Currently, the THPA does not give the National Environment Agency (NEA) \u2013 the agency administering the law \u2013 the powers to request firms to appoint investigators to study a firm\u2019s operations, corporate relationships or supply chains.<\/p>\n This resulted in practical challenges in obtaining information, to investigate and to enforce against transboundary offences.<\/p>\n NEA will be given the authority to do so once the proposed changes take effect, and failing to comply will be considered an offence, Shanmugam said.<\/p>\n The next parliamentary sitting begins on Nov 3.<\/p>\n His remarks were directed to executives from 10 Singapore-based companies that were issued notices under the THPA on Oct 23.<\/p>\n They had been summoned for a closed-door meeting at the Treasury building with Shanmugam, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.<\/p>\n Also in attendance was Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, whose law firm will advise the Government and oversee the coordination of the panel of experts appointed to look into the transboundary problem.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n All 10 Singapore companies were represented at the meeting.<\/p>\n Bumitama Agri was represented by its chief executive and executive chairman Lim Gunawan Hariyanto<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Company, APP Company (China) and Golden Agri International were represented by Franky Oesman Widjaja. The Widjaja family owns Sinar Mas, an Indonesian conglomerate that owns the APP companies and Golden Agri International. Also present at the meeting was Bernard Tan, senior adviser of Sinar Mas Group.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n First Resources was represented by Ciliandra Fangiono, its chief executive and executive director<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Indofood Agri Resources was represented by Mark Wakeford, its chief executive and executive director<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Kencana Agri was represented by its chief executive and executive director Albert Maknawi<\/p>\n<\/li>\n TSH Global Plantation and TSH Oversea were represented by Kelvin Tan Aik Pen, the chairman and co-founder of TSH Resources which owns both these firms<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wilmar International was represented by Kuok Khoon Hong, its chairman and chief executive<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n