HAZE SITUATION

HAZE SITUATION:

(Action Plan): 6.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in view of the recent remarks made by Indonesia’s Forestry Minister on the haze issue (a) what is his Ministry’s position on the haze situation; (b) whether his Ministry has taken any action with Indonesia to address the worsening haze situation; (c) why is ASEAN unable to work as a cohesive bloc to tackle this issue of indiscriminate forest burning in Indonesia; and (d) what is his Ministry’s assessment on the commitment of the Indonesian Government and the state of our bilateral efforts to prevent forest fires from burning uncontrollably.

7.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources what is his assessment of the efficacy of efforts thus far to tackle transboundary haze pollution, both generally and in particular with respect to Singapore’s efforts in Jambi Province.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Sir, with your permission, can I take Question Nos. 6 and 7 together, please?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

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Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, Singapore views the haze situation as a very serious issue. Transboundary haze creates health and social problems for our citizens, and has adverse impacts on our economy, tourism and the transportation/aviation industry. Forest fires also release large quantities of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to the long-term effects of climate change. The source of this transboundary haze is largely attributed to the fires in Indonesia. Of late, there have also been fires in other parts of the region. We have thus been working with our regional neighbours to solve the haze problem.

Under the ASEAN framework, Singapore hosts the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) that monitors the regional hotspot situation and provides early warning to our neighbours when the ASMC observes significant rise in hotspot counts. Meanwhile, the ASEAN Secretariat also serves as the Interim ASEAN Coordinating Centre (ACC) to facilitate channelling of regional resources to countries requesting for assistance to combat forest fires. However, Sir, the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution which was signed in 2002 has yet to be ratified by both Indonesia and the Philippines. The effectiveness of regional cooperation under ASEAN depends very much on the willingness of its individual members to live up to their international obligations. The Indonesian media has reported that the Indonesian parliament (DPR) has highlighted the ASEAN Haze Agreement as one of six priority bills to be ratified before their current term ends on 30th September. Sir, we hope the DPR will do so expeditiously.

Aside from the ASEAN framework, we had in 2006 formed the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution comprising Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to enhance haze

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collaboration in the southern ASEAN region. The MSC, Sir, has met eight times within a span of three years, and seeks to assist Indonesia in implementing its Plan of Action (PoA) to combat haze. The bilateral Indonesia-Singapore collaboration in Jambi Province and the Indonesia-Malaysia collaboration in Riau Province provide progress reports to the MSC. The MSC also closely monitors the hotspot situation in the region. Indonesia has committed to achieving hotspot reduction of 50% in 2009, 75% in 2012 and 95% in 2025, using 2006 hotspot data as a baseline.

Sir, at the 8th MSC on 19th August this year hosted by Singapore, MSC countries agreed to ban all open burning including suspending permits for prescribed burning activities in fire-prone areas. Countries also agreed to step up enforcement measures, and to promote public awareness to control fires. These measures, Sir, will help prevent and mitigate haze during the El Nino season in the short-term. To facilitate implementation of longer-term sustainable measures, Singapore will be contributing by playing host to a MSC forum on the 28th of October this year for local authorities of MSC countries and international organisations to share experiences and best practices in addressing the transboundary haze pollution challenge.

Sir, on the bilateral front, our collaboration in Jambi Province has progressed very well. Thus far, we note that the hotspots in Jambi Province and in particular, the Muaro-Jambi Regency where our programmes are being implemented, have been relatively low as compared to the other fire-prone provinces and districts in Indonesia. We will thus continue to share technical expertise to help build up our region's capacity to overcome the haze problem.

Stronger El Nino conditions in the next few months could exacerbate the dry

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conditions in the region and result in a prolonged dry season and increased hotspot activities. Major international events like the F1 Grand Prix and the APEC meetings will be held in the next few months and scrutiny of the haze situation by the international media is inevitable. I have therefore offered to the Indonesian State Minister of Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, Singapore’s assistance to suppress the fires if necessary.

Sir, we acknowledge that Indonesia has been trying to implement measures to bring down the hotspots. As to whether or not their plan of action is on target, it will be up to Indonesia to review, but we believe that the Indonesian Government remains sincere in combating haze as it affects the health and quality of living of their citizens as well. Where the region lacks the expertise and resources, we should invite international participation to enhance our efforts. It will take strong political resolve by Indonesia to enforce their laws to prevent forest fires, support and co-operation within ASEAN, as well as resources from the international community, to successfully battle the transboundary haze problem.

Er Lee Bee Wah: Sir, supplementary question, please. Indonesian Environment Minister told media that all five members of the Sub-regional MSC on Transboundary Haze Pollution, including Singapore, agreed not to internationalise our haze issue. I would like to ask the Minister whether this is true and why should Singapore agree to it. Does the Minister think that the Indonesian Government is very slow in taking action to combat this haze issue? Does he think that we have to protest before they start taking action?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the Member was referring to a Jakarta Globe report on 25th of August which carried the quote from my counterpart, Mr Rachmat Witoelar, that he had asked the neighbouring countries not to internationalise the haze issue and that his

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counterparts from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei had agreed at the 8th meeting of the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Singapore. Sir, we are not aware of any agreement among the MSC members not to discuss the issue of haze at international forums. So, the simple answer – no, we did not. It was not an agreement that was reached at MSC.

Sir, MSC countries have benefited from international studies, concerns and support for the efforts being put to combat the haze issue. The haze issue is also associated with regional deforestation challenges and there are now active discussions in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) track in which many ASEAN countries are participating. So with the haze problem affecting Malaysia and Singapore again this year and the impending El Nino which can make the situation more severe, the recent MSC meeting was actually brought forward. It was scheduled to be in October but we brought it forward to August and Minister Rachmat had assured the meeting that Indonesia is doing its best to tackle the forest fires. MSC members also discussed how best to tackle the haze in Indonesia, and Singapore and Malaysia have offered their assistance. So we are playing our part. They have promised that they will meet their targets. Whether they are slow or not, it is something which we have to continue to monitor. I do not think we have to protest because we have already protested and that is why we have the MSC meetings starting from 2006.

But, Sir, despite the best of efforts of ASEAN, the haze continues to plague our region and this is actually due to limited resources available in the region to prevent and mitigate forest fires. So we

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believe that it is important that ASEAN countries continue to seek assistance from the international community for resources and expertise to augment the region's efforts to combat the haze issue.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Non-Constituency Member):

Sir, three supplementary questions for the Minister. I would like the Minister to come back to the ASEAN Haze Agreement which he mentioned earlier. Three years ago in the House he said that Indonesia should show its political resolve by signing the ASEAN Haze Agreement. However, as he mentioned, to-date it has not been done. And I would like the Minister to comment on whether he thinks that this is a must-have in order to comprehensively resolve the issue or can significant progress still be made even if the agreement is not signed?

Second question: some Indonesian parliamentarians have spoken to the media and they have said that one of the reasons why they do not want to ratify the agreement is that they feel it should be tied in to banning illegal logging which they say Indonesia has been losing revenue and has benefited other countries instead. So I would like the Minister to tell the House whether this issue is also on the ASEAN agenda. Are they looking into the issue of illegal logging or not?

And the last question is this. There was a recent Straits Times report that assessed that slash-and-burn in Indonesia "continues unabated". I would like the Minister to comment on whether he agrees with that assessment and what he thinks is the root cause of that.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, the ASEAN Haze Agreement is an important agreement. It means that all the 10 member countries have agreed to put together their own domestic plans to deal with the haze problem. So if you ask me

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whether we must have it, we must because we agreed to have it. And so we hope that Indonesia will ratify the agreement as quickly as possible and therefore put in place programmes which they have done so because they have a plan of action, and therefore all of us can work together to ensure that we keep our house in order so that this problem can be under control.

But having said that, even though Indonesia has not ratified, we have moved forward because we realise that there are challenges for which we cannot wait. So when the last haze in 2006 came about, we felt that it was important for at least the five ASEAN countries to come together and deal with this collectively. Thus far, both Singapore and Malaysia have made progress by collaborating with some of the local provinces in Indonesia. So our collaboration, for example, in the Jambi Province has proven that it is possible for us to work together with the provinces to come up with an alternative plan to deal with this challenge. As I mentioned in my reply, so far the hotspot counts coming from the area in which we are collaborating seemed to be low as compared to the other fire-prone areas. So I think it is important for the agreement to come into effect but at the same time we cannot wait and therefore we have to move and find other channels, other platforms to deal with the challenge.

The issue of illegal logging is an on-going discussion. It is not an issue that has been discussed among the Environment Ministers but I am sure it has been debated in the other forums. But as far as Singapore is concerned, we keep telling the Indonesian counterparts that if they have come across anybody who has done illegal logging, they should be prosecuted based on the laws of the country. So there is nothing to prevent Indonesia from taking the necessary action in dealing with whoever is responsible for illegal logging.

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The third question as to whether or not the slash-and-burn has gone unabated, the hotspot counts have been increasing. So if you use that as a correlation, that means it has gone "unabated" if you want to use that word. But at least in those areas in which Singapore and Malaysia are collaborating with the Indonesian provinces, their numbers seem to be coming down or at least it is holding steady. So what it means is that there are alternative means to removing, clearing land, and so on. So the challenge is really for us to share best practices and that is why we have agreed to host the MSC forum at the end of October where we hope to invite heads of the various provinces across the region to come together and learn from both the experiences of Singapore and Malaysia so that they can then go back and decide as to whether or not they want to adopt those practices. I think that is one of the better ways in which we can achieve an outcome – to get some of the local regional heads to decide. If Jambi can do it with Singapore, if Riau can do it with Malaysia, perhaps they can also do it. We have offered our assistance in terms of training but beyond that, if there are other things that they have to do, they have to find their own sources. In terms of expertise, we are prepared to share with any other provinces that are prepared to work with us in this area.

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