SINGAPORE, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Singapore will work with ASEAN member states to strengthen the implementation of an agreement on transboundary haze when it chairs the regional bloc next year, the country’s environment minister said on Tuesday.
It will also work with the bloc to establish the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control in Indonesia, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
• In response to questions in Parliament, Fu said the coordinating centre will strengthen cooperation and coordination in managing land and forest fires and transboundary haze
• It will only come into force after six ASEAN member states have ratified the establishment agreement, she said
• She added that Singapore will work with other member states to tackle the root causes of transboundary haze, such as peatland management and crop burning guidelines
• According to Singapore’s meteorological service, the haze has eased significantly in Singapore with the weakening of the Southwest monsoon, with light and variable winds more likely to blow the smoke away, and increased rainfall is also expected in November
• Singapore has been subject to angry rhetoric from Jakarta, partly due to the tensions surrounding the wildfires, which choked the region in haze last month
• A former Indonesian official also claimed without evidence that Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds played a role in index provider MSCI’s warning that it would downgrade Indonesian stocks
• Indonesia has warned Muslim pilgrims to avoid transiting through Singapore and has cut gas supplies to the city-state
(Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by David Stanway)
