ASEAN REGIONAL HAZE ACTION PLAN (Fulfilment of obligations)

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for the Environment (a) what means the Singapore Government will have of ensuring that all countries involved in the ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan fulfill their obligations under the Plan in due time so as to avoid a recurrence of the haze pollution and (b) how much Singapore will spend in its follow-up to the Regional Haze Action Plan, both for its own activities as well as in support of joint activities or activities carried out by its ASEAN neighbours.

The Minister for the Environment (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): Sir, the ASEAN Regional Haze Action Plan sets out the cooperative measures needed among ASEAN member countries to address the problem of smoke haze. While it may not be legally binding, the plan specifies the national and regional efforts needed in each member country to prevent the recurrence of smoke haze due to land and forest fires.

The plan was developed by the ASEAN Haze Technical Task Force chaired by Indonesia and unanimously adopted during the ASEAN Environment Ministers' Meeting on 23rd December 1997. There are no mechanisms under the plan for any member country to ensure that the other member countries fulfil their obligations. However, the lead countries in the plan are the countries that were badly affected by the smoke haze last year. They therefore have a vested interest to make their best efforts in preventing the recurrence of the problem. The Task Force would be meeting regularly to coordinate the implementation of the plan.

Under the action plan, Singapore's role is to spearhead efforts to strengthen the region's early warning and monitoring capabilities. To this end, the Government would provide the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) based in Singapore with the necessary manpower and technical expertise for it to fulfill its role and functions under the plan. We will install an Intranet system in the Centre at a cost of about $300,000 to enable ASEAN countries to expeditiously share meteorological forecasts and satellite monitoring information.

We will also be hosting a regional workshop in Singapore next month where meteorological experts in ASEAN can discuss weather forecasts for this year and compare forecasting techniques with international experts.

We will support the other ASEAN countries in their implementation of the plan in areas where we have the technical expertise. During the last haze period, we had helped by sending teams of experts with high-tech equipment to the Haze Command Centre in Jakarta. We will continue to do so if requested in the future. We will have a clearer picture of what total support is needed from Singapore and what this will translate into in monetary terms when detailed discussions on the action plan are completed in April.

Mr Simon S C Tay (Nominated Member): Sir, the plan has no mechanism for supervision and the Minister mentioned that they will meet regularly. May I ask whether the Singapore Government's representatives could seek further details at each meeting and update the Singapore public?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: I will definitely consider Mr Tay's suggestion.