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Since the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was enacted in 2014, no company has yet been successfully prosecuted. What is Singapore doing differently this time, to pursue the culprits behind this year’s haze? Ten companies linked to the fires have received preventive measure notices, while Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam has warned that Singapore will use every legal, regulatory and economic measure to pressure recalcitrant companies to act.
Steven Chia and Tiffany Ang speak with environmental law expert Sean Tseng of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law to find out why unclear land ownership and corporate structures make criminal prosecutions difficult, and how the use of other levers – such as banks and the Singapore Exchange - could put commercial pressure on haze-linked companies.
More from Deep Dive on the haze: Learn how to better protect yourself from the unhealthy air, with advice from an air pollution expert: https://youtu.be/yY-AJ2MPUi8
Highlights:
00:00 Intro
02:50 What can haze prevention notices achieve?
06:00 Why haze cases difficult to prosecute
08:15 The problem with identifying landowners
10:00 Can Singapore enforce fines overseas?
13:30 How SGX could pressure companies
15:45 What role can banks play?
17:06 Could supply chain transparency make a difference?
23:37 Can haze victims sue for damages?
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#DeepDivePodcast #singapore #haze
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<br>Two critical distinctions must be made crystal clear:
<br>1. The "actionable threat" is for Singaporean ears only. All the tough political rhetoric—the warnings of massive S$2 million fines and criminal prosecution—is broadcasted exclusively to the local media to protect their own image.
<br>2. Absolutely none of it is contained in the actual notice. The physical document sent to these overseas firms contains zero threats, zero penalties, and zero immediate legal teeth. Legally defined under Section 9 of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act as a "written request," the notice functions purely as a polite advisory list asking foreign entities to please deploy firefighters and please stop burning.
<br>The fundamental failure of these notices lies in their functional outcome: they do absolutely nothing to stop the fires.
<br>A legal mechanism that stays entirely on paper does not put out a single active fire today. I rather they abolish the carbon tax instead since it achieve tangibly nothing instead of the optic notices.