SINGAPORE: The worsening haze across Singapore in recent weeks has cast a pall over the skies and certain stocks.
Palm oil shares took a tumble when some Singapore-listed companies were linked to plantation areas in Indonesia where fires and smoke were detected.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also said on Facebook on Oct 15 that Singapore is looking into which companies may be responsible for haze-causing fires.
He added that Singapore will take action under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act and explore joint action with other countries, where warranted.
The law, which was enacted in 2014, targets those responsible for causing or condoning fires if the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) to stay in the unhealthy range in any part of Singapore for 24 hours or more.
Air quality is considered unhealthy when PSI levels are 101 and above.
The PSI levels have been over 200 in some areas over the last few days.
Agribusiness group Wilmar International and palm oil company Golden Agri Resources were among the Singapore-listed firms that have addressed their involvement in the ongoing forest fires in Indonesia.
In response to queries on Oct 16 from the Singapore Exchange Regulation, both said that they have no-burning policies in place.
Golden Agri said that it “is not aware of information indicating that its operations or activities have caused or contributed to the recent transboundary haze”.
Wilmar said that it has not undertaken any new oil palm planting in its plantations in Indonesia since 2013.
Since then, the firm’s field activities in Indonesia “have been limited to the replanting of existing planted areas, which is carried out mechanically and without the use of fire”.
Meanwhile, palm oil company Bumitama Agri said that some of its operations in Indonesia were affected by fires spread from surrounding land.
In a Singapore Exchange filing on Oct 16 evening, it said that based on internal observations and preliminary investigations, “no evidence has been established linking the group’s operations with initiation of the fires under investigations and to the haze in question”.
The firm, which had earlier called for a trading halt, was named in an investigation by environmental group Greenpeace along with Singapore-listed palm oil company First Resources.
First Resources on Oct 15 said the fires detected within its Indonesian palm oil concessions were largely caused by external blazes spreading across its boundaries.
Privately held company First Borneo Plantations, which has ownership links to Singapore-incorporated companies, was also named in the Oct 5 report.
The report identified plantation concessions associated with the three companies where fires and smoke were detected between August and September.
A concession grants a company the right to use or develop an area of land. Wilmar’s shares closed 1.2% down on Oct 16, while Golden Agri-Resources saw shares tumble 3.5%. — The Straits Times/ANN
