Firms behind smog to face music

A busker with a face mask performs along Orchard road in Singapore on June 22, 2013. Singapore will raise the regional smog problem at an upcoming ASEAN meeting and go after any local firms involved in starting forest fires in Indonesia, foreign minister K. Shanmugam said June 22. AFP PHOTO/Roslan Rahman

Singapore said it would pursue local firms found to be involved in starting forest fires in Indonesia, as Greenpeace said the blazes were on palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies.

Smog had engulfed the city-state with fluctuating levels rising to a record high on Friday, although they had dropped to “moderate” by yesterday afternoon, giving beleaguered residents relief that was predicted to be temporary.