Greenpeace links Singaporean and Malaysian firms to Indonesian firespublished at 04:48 BST
04:48 BST
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Singapore
While Singapore and Malaysia continue to be affected by the toxic haze, data from environmental group Greenpeace shows that a number of the Indonesian plantations producing the most smog are linked to business entities based in those neighbouring countries.
Among these is PT Damai Agro Sejahtera, which is affiliated with Bumitama Agri Ltd, an oil palm compnay headquartered in Singapore. Twenty-nine haze sources were detected in this land concession from 21 August to 11 September this year, according to Greenpeace.
Another example raised by Greenpeace is PT Menteng Jaya Sawit
Perdana, which is part of the Kuala Lumpur Kepong Group and recorded 19 haze source points over six days.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Group said in response that a majority of the fires originated beyond the area under its purview, and that the fires have been put out.
“The root of this entire disaster lies in landscape mismanagement that provides extensive room” for activities that extract resources from the Earth, Greenpeace said in a statement early this week.
“Regional corporate links need to be examined,” it urged, “not
to generalise that foreign companies are the cause of the fires, but to ensure ownership
transparency [and proper] tracing of responsibility”.
The haze is caused by fires in Indonesian forests and peatlands, and many of these fires are started by farmers and plantation owners who burn vegetation to clear land for crops.