Singapore has warned it will go after companies responsible for the forest fires in Indonesia causing the regional haze, but cross-border challenges remain stumbling blocks to solving a problem that has plagued the city state for decades.
Analysts point to long-standing obstacles hampering the country’s decade-old haze legislation, such as complex corporate ownership and opaque transboundary supply chains. To date, no company has been prosecuted under the law.
Beyond legal threats, greater accountability is needed from corporate boards and investors, observers add. The renewed push has reignited tensions over state ownership, with a former Indonesian minister challenging Singapore to take hard action against companies with business links to the city state.
On Monday, Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam told local media the country would use “every legal and regulatory lever” at its disposal to “exert pressure where it matters – including on [companies’] bottom lines, including on their access to financing, and including on their standing with investors”.