Singapore’s National Environment Agency will send preventive-measure notices to seven plantation and timber operators on Sumatra after tracing haze that reached the city-state on 8 and 9 October to fires on land they control, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said at a press conference on Friday. The move escalates a weeks-long smoke episode that has kept masks on street corners and forced schools to limit outdoor activities.
Fu named the recipients as PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT SBA Wood Industries, PT Hutan Lestari Raya and PT Bangkanesia. NEA said satellite imagery and meteorological modelling tied smoke plumes from those concessions to deteriorating air quality here. Two of the names — Bumi Andalas Permai and Bumi Mekar Hijau — already face open investigations dating to the 2015 haze crisis, when the agency issued its first tranche of legal notices under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.
What the notices require
Under the THPA, each company must deploy firefighting teams to extinguish or contain blazes on land it owns or occupies, halt new burning and file action plans with NEA detailing how it will stop a recurrence. The law allows fines of up to S$100,000 per day, capped at S$2 million, even when the burning occurs outside Singapore’s borders. Fu said the government will publish the full list and monitor compliance before deciding on prosecutions, adding that “fines or charges” remain options if companies ignore the orders.
Diplomacy and the wider region
Fu said Singapore has been coordinating with Jakarta for months and reiterated an offer on Friday to send civilian firefighting help, including cloud-seeding support, after media reports that Indonesia might accept foreign assistance. She spoke again to Indonesian Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat as hotspots continued to flare across Riau and South Sumatra. NEA pledged to issue notices to additional firms if fresh evidence links more concessions to smoke over the island.
Households checking the PSI on government apps saw modest improvement at times this week, but Fu cautioned that the situation remains fluid. Pulmonary clinics reported higher walk-in volumes, and the tourism board has been advising visitors on mask use around Marina Bay. For now, the city’s legal lever is the THPA notices heading to Sumatra — a test of whether Singapore can compel action across the strait without waiting for another regional haze pact to move.