Indonesia's parliament agrees to ratify ASEAN haze pact

S'pore welcomes Jakarta's move to ratify haze pact
Indonesian officials hail decision as a new chapter in efforts to tackle issue
By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta, The Straits Times, 17 Sep 2014

INDONESIA'S Parliament unanimously agreed to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, in a move officials hailed as a new chapter in the country's efforts to take a stronger lead in tackling an annual problem that has irked residents in affected areas and neighbouring countries.

"This is the right step for Indonesia to show that it is serious in addressing the transboundary haze caused by forest and plantation fires," Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya told Parliament yesterday. Ratification, he stressed, would benefit Indonesia the most as it would better protect citizens from the negative effects of forest fires and safeguard the country's natural resources.

All nine parties in the outgoing Parliament yesterday backed a Bill to ratify the agreement, 12 years after Indonesia signed it alongside the other nine ASEAN members - but failed to win approval for it from MPs until recently.

The Bill is expected to be formally signed into law by the President in the coming weeks, and after that an instrument of ratification will be deposited with the ASEAN secretary-general.

The House's reluctance in the past became a sticking point last year, when haze levels reached record highs in Riau as well as Malaysia and Singapore.

MPs had felt certain clauses could infringe the country's sovereignty, leaving Indonesia in the awkward position of being the only ASEAN member to hold out.

But the government has clarified that though the treaty obliged Indonesia to be responsible for responding rapidly to fires and cooperating with its neighbours, sovereignty was not negotiable.

Instead, the pact strengthened Indonesia's existing regulations and policies in dealing with fires.

"These responsibilities do not come with sanctions. Any differences among us (ASEAN members) will be settled amicably through discussions and consultation," Dr Balthasar added yesterday.

"Indonesia can make use of the human resources and equipment available within ASEAN countries," Mr Milton Pakpahan, a Democrat MP who helped to push the Bill through, told Parliament.

Singapore welcomed the Indonesian Parliament's decision to ratify the treaty, the Environment and Water Resources Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

It also said the ratification was timely, given the recent spike in the number of hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"Singapore looks forward to closer cooperation with the Indonesian government and our ASEAN partners to tackle this recurrent problem," the ministry added.

Under the terms of the treaty, countries have to cooperate in taking measures to prevent, monitor and mitigate the haze by controlling the sources of fires, in exchanging information and technology, and in helping one another manage outbreaks.

Indonesia's Environment Ministry said yesterday that it had already begun taking measures in line with the ASEAN agreement.

Indonesia will also be starting cloud-seeding in the coming days to induce rain to douse forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Post by Vivian Balakrishnan.

Jakarta approval to ratify ASEAN haze pact shows 'commitment'
Move a boost for regional action, improves detection of fire-starters
By Zakir Hussain Indonesia Bureau Chief And Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Jakarta, The Straits Times, 18 Sep 2014

FOREIGN Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia's ratification of the ASEAN haze agreement signals his country's commitment to tackling an annual problem together with its neighbours.

"This is a very important development - a reminder of the commonality of interests between Indonesia and the region at large in dealing with the issue of haze," he told The Straits Times yesterday.

"Indonesia will continue to enhance its efforts to deal with this challenge." Dr Marty's comments come a day after the House passed a Bill agreeing to ratify the ASEAN pact on transboundary haze pollution, 12 years after Indonesia signed it alongside other ASEAN members and as the current haze threatens to spread in coming weeks.

The pact calls on countries to cooperate in preventing, monitoring and managing the haze by controlling the sources of fires, and in sharing information and technology.

Indonesia's delay in ratifying the pact had called into question its commitment to tackle the problem, but officials yesterday said the nation had tried to comply with it before ratification. Dr Marty earlier told Parliament's defence and foreign affairs panel: "Each time incidents like this happen, we feel it the most, but our neighbours also get affected. Our approach is in the spirit of not blaming one another, but seeing how we can solve the problem together."

Mr Agus Purnomo, an adviser to the President on environmental affairs, told The Straits Times: "Indonesia will continue to do what it has been doing, including law enforcement. With the ratification, Indonesia can no longer be blamed as a party that blocks regional cooperation." He added that poverty was at the root of the problem in many fire-prone areas.

Environmental law professor Laode M. Syarif said Indonesia had fulfilled most of its responsibilities under the pact, enacting laws to prohibit open burning and putting in place early warning systems and emergency response measures. 

"What we need is the full implementation of those laws and action plans," he said. "Now we are obliged to do it by international law and standards."

Mr Afdhal Mahyudin, a Pekanbaru-based officer with environmental group WWF, hoped the ratification will see better detection of errant plantation owners, saying this should strengthen the government's hand in bringing culprits to book.

Last week, a district court in Riau sentenced a manager of a Malaysian-owned plantation to one year in jail and fined him two billion rupiah (S$220,000) for neglecting to prevent forest fires on the estate in June last year. The firm was also fined and ordered to repair environmental damage.

National Disaster Management Agency and Forestry Ministry officials yesterday told a briefing on the current haze situation that 99 per cent of fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in recent days were caused by deliberate burning.

Disaster officials said aircraft allocated to do cloud- seeding to induce rain were under maintenance, although they are in talks to rent planes to seed clouds. Meanwhile, helicopters carried out water-bombing to put out fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The PSI in Pekanbaru, Riau, hit the unhealthy range of 138 yesterday. Air quality in Singapore crossed into the unhealthy range with the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) registering 102 at 8pm.

Singapore expresses 'deep concern' in letter

By Audrey Tan, The Straits Times, 20 Sep 2014

SINGAPORE has written to Indonesia to express "deep concern" about the current haze, which has been forecast to continue today.

In a letter to Indonesia's Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya on Thursday, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister, also reiterated the Republic's offer to assist in dealing with the fires.

For the past five days, air quality here has been hovering between moderate and unhealthy levels, with yesterday's 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading registering unhealthy levels as early as 1am. By 7pm, the 24-hour reading was in the moderate range of 90 to 97.

The National Environment Agency said yesterday that it had detected 44 hot spots in Sumatra and 98 in Kalimantan.

The agency also expects occasional haze today.

Singapore has long been affected by transboundary smoke caused by Indonesian farmers who set fires to clear land, with the Republic experiencing its worst-ever bout of haze last year.

On Tuesday, Indonesia's Parliament agreed to ratify the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, 12 years after the country signed the pact along with all other Asean members.

The treaty obliges Indonesia to be responsible for responding rapidly to fires and cooperating with its neighbours. When signed into law in the coming weeks, the pact will strengthen its existing regulations and policies in dealing with fires.

Haze law 'a local solution to issues across the border'
Chief Justice: Consider neighbours when responding to global issues
By K.C. Vijayan, The Straits Times, 20 Sep 2014

CHIEF Justice Sundaresh Menon has held up Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act as the kind of domestic legal action that could deal with problems wrought by globalisation.

He said the Act is an example of a practical local solution to cross-border issues in lieu of coordinated international action.

He made the remarks during a discussion on challenges posed by globalisation to the rule of law at the World Bar Conference in New Zealand earlier this month.

The event was organised by the International Council of Advocates and Barristers, a Britain-based forum for lawyer groups from around the world.

In a speech that underlined the benefits of a globalised world, he also warned that globalisation "is no silver bullet - and indeed even silver bullets must be used with care". Among other things, the darker side of globalisation had far-reaching effects, such as borderless economic and cyber crime.

But this did not mean sovereign states are "helpless in the face of transnational problems".

Instead, they would have to think of domestic solutions, but any such unilateral move will have to be considered with one's neighbours in mind, he said.

He described the Act as an example of a "balanced domestic response to this conundrum".

Chief Justice Menon said that in recent years, the haze problem in Singapore has become severe as a result of industrial-scale deforestation carried out in the region by corporate entities.

"Our Act is designed to shift the cost-benefit calculus of the economic actors who perpetuate such practices," he added.

The Act provides for any entity, local or abroad, to be fined up to $100,000 per day subject to a $2 million cap for contributing to transboundary haze.

Among other things, the Act reduces the difficulties of identifying who is responsible for the haze in Singapore.

It allows satellite images and meteorological data to be used as evidence of the haze source. Any entity reflected on a map from the foreign state as the owner or occupier of the land may be presumed to have contributed or caused the haze pollution here.

The Chief Justice made clear Singapore is under no illusions that the Act will be a "panacea" but it is a key part of a holistic solution.

This includes further multilateral cooperation and a re-commitment to the Asean Transboundary Agreement signed in 2002, which was ratified on Tuesday by Indonesia.

Under the treaty, countries have to cooperate to prevent, monitor and mitigate the haze by controlling the sources of fires, exchanging information and technology, and in helping one another manage outbreaks.

Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Ministry said the move was timely, given the recent spike in hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.