3 entities investigated in 2015 haze incidents identified again in current haze episode, past actions to be considered

The timing of the proposed Transboundary Haze Pollution (Amendment) Bill has been questioned by several Members of Parliament (MPs) and Workers' Party (WP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Eileen Chong.

Chong, who was among the WP members who spoke in the debate on Nov. 4, posed her question fully in Mandarin.

Chong said she supported the amendment bill but questioned its timing, particularly why it took the government 10 years to propose these amendments.

She also asked if the problem was with the law or with issues pertaining to cross-border law enforcement.

Other MPs who raised similar questions included the People's Action Party (PAP) MP for Nee Soon, Lee Hui Ying, and PAP MP for Sembawang West, Poh Li San.

10 years to propose amendments

Chong noted that investigations into four of the six companies investigated in 2015 remain unresolved.

"More than 10 years have passed, there has not been a single prosecution, a single conviction, a single dollar in fines."

She said there were 10 notices issued by the National Environment Agency, highlighting that three of the companies had also received notices in 2015. In the intervening years, MPs in Parliament have asked about these cases.

Chong added that in 2019, then-Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli gave a reply that the government had no plans to amend the act.

However, Chong stated that it was already evident then that some of the companies had not replied and would not cooperate with the government investigations.

"Singaporeans do have the right to know: why did we have to wait 10 years?

Is the problem with the law or the ability of the relevant agencies to investigate complex cross-border cases?"

Chong also noted that since the proposed new heavier penalties cannot be applied retroactively, she asked when and in what manner the unresolved four cases from 2015 would be concluded.

Similar questions

In the same session, Lee Hui Ying questioned if the effectiveness of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act had been reviewed since it was passed in 2014.

Her fellow PAP MP, Poh, asked if the proposed amendments would apply retroactively to the six Indonesian companies that were issued legal notices in 2015.

Poh also asked, "How can they (the six Indonesian companies) be brought to justice, as the case has been ongoing for more than a decade?"

Grace Fu response

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu that the amendments do not retrospectively create new offences.

Any offences pre-dating the refreshed THPA will be liable for the existing penalties.

Fu addressed why the THPA was to be amended now, on an urgent basis.

"I believe Members remember the various concerns raised by our counterparts in the region after the passing of the THPA in 2014.

And as we tried to progress on investigations related to the 2015 haze episodes, over the years we pursued bilateral and regional cooperation to address the underlying causes of transboundary haze, while gaining practical experience of the challenges involved in enforcing the existing THPA levels.

The 2026 episode highlighted the complexities and persistent challenges of addressing transboundary haze, notwithstanding the national, bilateral, and regional efforts of the past decade.

It reinforced the need to strengthen our domestic legal framework alongside these cooperative efforts."

On the four outstanding cases, Fu said investigations remain open, but time has lapsed because of procedural issues.

"We don't have a lot to work with, but we will continue to explore available avenues to obtain the evidence. Three of the four entities investigated have also been identified in our investigations in the current haze episode," Fu said.

Their past actions will be considered, as investigations proceed into the current case.