IN FULL: Shanmugam's talking points to 10 haze-linked companies in closed-door meeting

On Oct. 28, Senior Minister K Shanmugam met with senior leaders of the 10 Singapore-based companies served legal notices by the National Environment Agency (NEA) under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA).

He's speaking as the Chairman of the Homefront Crisis Ministerial Committee.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, as well as Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu were both present at the meeting.

All 10 firms were represented at the meeting.

Below is the full text of SM Shanmugam’s remarks to the representatives.

Introduction

Thank you for coming.

I have asked to meet you personally because the Haze situation is serious.

We want to be clear about the Government’s position.

And what we expect from each of you.

The intention of this exercise is not to find scapegoats.

Nor is it to fix blame for public or political reasons.

You know the Singapore Government.

We will do what is right.

From our perspective, we need to deal with issues that affect Singapore.

And we need to be sure that companies which are here conduct their operations in a manner that doesn’t affect Singapore or the region.

Haze has affected daily lives and well-being of Singaporeans.

Air quality reached very unhealthy levels in October.

Vulnerable groups like children, seniors, those with chronic heart or lung conditions, have faced greater health risks during this time.

Haze is caused by fires.

Fires are caused by irresponsible business practices.

It is not a natural phenomenon.

The Government takes this seriously, and we are determined to act.

And we are giving full attention to this issue.

We will pursue all available legal and regulatory avenues.

We will use all the powers we have to establish responsibility, where there is responsibility.

And we will hold those responsible to account.

And if the facts show that there is no wrongdoing – we will proceed on that basis as well.

Expectations

I want to emphasise to you.

You have a corporate presence and stake in Singapore.

And you have a responsibility to ensure that your operations and your supply chains do not contribute to the Haze.

Where there are concerns about a company’s involvement, whether directly or through its corporate relationships or supply chains, we will examine the facts carefully.

We cannot allow corporate structures or third-party arrangements to stand in our way of establishing the facts.

Steps taken

NEA has served Notices under Section 10 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act on your companies since last week.

These are formal Statutory Notices.

They are not routine requests for information.

I will say this plainly: non-compliance with Section 10 is an offence.

We expect your companies to respond fully, accurately, and promptly.

We expect substantive cooperation and transparency, not merely technical compliance or lawyered responses which don’t deal with the substance.

Your companies must make every effort to provide the information needed to establish the facts.

Assessment of Companies

We announced last week: The Government will set up a Panel of Assessors.

We would like to have expert assessment confirming that your company was or was not involved in any fires that caused or contributed to the Haze.

We have created a specialist Panel of Assessors. We will be announcing their appointments soon, within the next two days.

Davinder Singh Chambers LLC (DSC) will serve as the Government’s Advisor, in respect of these matters. DSC will, in addition, also oversee the coordination of the Panel’s work.

The process will work in this way.

One of your identified companies will have to engage a team comprising an Investigations Firm and a Law Firm, to advise the Investigations Firm.

These will be from the Panel, as directed by NEA.

The Investigations Firm will often need legal support from lawyers on their Report.

The work to be done for the Report by all the Firms on the Panel will be co-ordinated and directed by DSC.

To be clear, the Law Firms will advise the investigations firm, and not the companies.

The companies can of course get their own legal advice.

The Panel Team appointed to your company will be your company’s appointees.

Payment will be made to them by the companies.

NEA will provide the Assessors with relevant terms of reference, areas, issues, questions, that they would like the Assessors to look at.

Your company is expected to give the Assessors full access to information, documents, premises, people, etc, on your operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.

The Assessors may need to engage third parties or other experts to assist with the Assessment.

Some examples include remote sensing, and geospatial analysts to analyse satellite hotspot data.

The Assessors will submit a Report, containing their findings, to the NEA, through DSC.

NEA will take this Report into account when assessing further steps.

Many of you have expressed a commitment to cooperate fully with the Government.

We welcome that.

If your Company is not involved in any way in the fires, and your supply chains are clean, the Assessment should help to establish that fact and address our concerns.

If there have been lapses, these will have to be dealt with.

We will take into account the level of cooperation you have given.

Legislative Amendments

At the next Parliamentary sitting next week, the Government intends to table amendments to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, to give legal force to the framework I have just outlined.

NEA will be empowered to issue a formal direction to any entity suspected of contributing or being connected to the fires.

NEA will be able to direct that the entities appoint Assessors.

A failure by an entity to comply with the direction would be an offence.

The legislation will provide that Assessors will have full access to documents and information, and access to sites, facilities, as they decide to be necessary.

The Assessors will be empowered to look into the entity’s operations, corporate relationships, and supply chains.

They will seek to establish whether the entity is in any way involved in causing or contributing to fires that have led to haze pollution in Singapore.

The Assessors will then issue a Report to NEA.

Failure to provide full co-operation will be an offence. I hope that NEA need not reach the stage of having to make a direction to you.

It is in all of our interests if you: can agree to submit to the process today, and proceed with the engagement of the Assessors soon.

Without having to have a formal Notice issued under law.

We will be announcing the names of CEOs and companies who voluntarily committed to going through the Assessor process.

The Government will update Singaporeans of the status of the exercise.

This is not going to be a one-off process. We intend for there to be regular evaluations and certifications by the Assessors.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by emphasising three points.

First, the Haze has caused real harm to Singapore and Singaporeans.

We cannot treat this as an unavoidable fact of life or business.

The health and well-being of Singaporeans must come first.

Second, the Government is determined.

We will pursue the facts and evidence for as long as it takes and strengthen our laws as needed.

It cannot be Business As Usual, even after the Haze is over.

Third, we expect full cooperation and compliance.

We hope that you will ensure your companies work constructively with our agencies.

We will take any questions now.