Singapore Targets Companies Under Haze Law as Indonesia Faces Criticism Over Fires
Singapore has served legal notices on companies in Indonesia and Singapore over the latest fires and is reviewing how to strengthen its haze law. The measures come as smoke disrupts life in Indonesia and renews a dispute over corporate accountability and national sovereignty.
Notices seek firefighting action and corporate records
Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) used two provisions of the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in October 2026: one to require fire-response measures from Indonesian companies and another to obtain information from Singapore-registered businesses.
The agency sent Preventive Measure Notices under Section 9 to seven companies over fires in Sumatra on October 16: PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau, PT SBA Wood Industries, PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT Hutan Lestari Raya and PT Bangkanesia. On October 19, it issued notices to three more companies over fires in Kalimantan: PT Buana Megatama Jaya, PT Mananjung Hayak and PT Baratama Putra Perkasa.
Those notices require the recipients to send personnel to fight fires, cease or refrain from burning, and provide NEA with fire-response action plans.
On October 23, NEA also sought records from ten Singapore-registered palm oil or forestry companies that either own Indonesian land concessions or have related companies that do. The requests cover corporate relationships, concession locations and fire-prevention efforts. This was NEA's first use of Section 10 notices since the law took effect.
The recipients were Asia Pulp & Paper Company Limited, Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China) Limited, Bumitama Agri Ltd, Golden Agri International Pte Ltd, First Resources Ltd, Indofood Agri Resources Ltd, Kencana Agri Ltd, TSH Global Plantation Pte Ltd, TSH Oversea Pte Ltd and Wilmar International Ltd.
Sovereignty dispute draws criticism
Writing in The Jakarta Post, Abdul Khalik criticized President Prabowo Subianto's response to neighboring countries' complaints. He described Prabowo as treating criticism of the haze as an insult to Indonesia, rather than addressing the domestic failures behind the fires.
Khalik placed that response in a longer history of friction over smoke crossing national borders. In October 1997, President Soeharto apologized to Singapore after Indonesian forest fires covered the city-state in haze. Nearly three decades later, Khalik argued, Indonesian leaders are again directing blame outward while people at home and in neighboring countries breathe polluted air.
The opinion piece rejects the portrayal of Singapore's corporate enforcement efforts as an infringement of Indonesian sovereignty. Khalik's argument is that Indonesia is entitled to seek evidence, contest Singapore's actions and demand due process, but not to expect silence from a neighbor seeking to protect its residents.
Satellite assessment puts burned area near 1.92 million hectares
Nusantara Atlas estimated that nearly 1.92 million hectares in Indonesia had burned by the end of September. Its independent satellite assessment, published October 21, put the January-September total at about 1.9 million hectares, 38% above the corresponding period in 2019, the worst fire year in its monitoring record.
Kalimantan accounted for approximately 684,000 hectares, or 36% of the national total. Swamp vegetation represented 35% of the affected land, while agricultural land and savanna or grassland each accounted for 20%. Natural forest made up about 4.5%, or 85,000 to 88,000 hectares. Roughly 202,000 hectares, equivalent to 10.6% of the total, were within oil palm concessions.
By late October, Indonesia's government had neither endorsed nor rejected the estimate of more than 1.9 million hectares burned through September. Its most recent official total covered only the period through July, when it reported 202,000 hectares burned.
Khalik identified dry weather as an aggravating factor, alongside longstanding problems with land clearing, degraded peatlands and weak enforcement. He also argued that influential commercial interests benefit while the public bears the costs.
Health estimates and reporting gaps
The Jakarta Post opinion piece described thousands of people seeking treatment at clinics and hospitals for suspected acute respiratory infections since the fires began. Unsafe outdoor air also led schools in affected provinces to close or suspend classes.
It cautioned that there was still no single, independently verified nationwide tally covering infection cases, haze-related hospital admissions, school closures and deaths. Precise national claims need an identifiable, verifiable source, such as the health ministry or provincial health offices.
A separate study by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), reported October 30, estimated about 3,560 deaths in Indonesia from wildfire smoke during September 2026. That estimate, based on short-term PM2.5 exposure, was roughly twice the group's August estimate; it was not a verified count of individual deaths.
CREA reported that about 57.8 million people in Indonesia experienced unhealthy-to-hazardous air in September and that more than 330,000 acute respiratory infection cases were recorded nationwide that month. It separately attributed an estimated 1,750 September deaths to pollution from sources other than fires.
Certification restrictions and a review of enforcement
Corporate scrutiny also extended beyond NEA's notices. On October 18, the Singapore Environment Council temporarily restricted Asia Pulp & Paper's use of the enhanced Singapore Green Labelling Scheme certification after suppliers to the company were linked to haze-related fires. The council also required daily reports on fire-response efforts.
Two APP entities were among the ten Singapore-registered recipients of Section 10 notices. At least four Singapore supermarket chains subsequently approached suppliers of products associated with the ten firms, including the instant-noodle brand Indomie.
On October 27, Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said the government was reviewing the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act with a view to strengthening enforcement and corporate accountability. She identified difficulties obtaining evidence and cooperation from companies outside Singapore as the two main obstacles.
Fu said at least 20 companies across Singapore and Indonesia had received legal notices by then. She also noted a limitation of Section 9: companies face no penalty for failing to respond to those notices.