While Singapore has usually offered Indonesia assistance in terms of firefighting assistance, aircraft and satellite surveillance, legislation was also introduced to mitigate the causes of the fires. The Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was introduced in 2014 that aims to deter and punish firms that engages in activity that contributes to the haze. This includes any activity such as farming or forestry operations. As we’ve seen in a previous section of this blog, a significant cause of the fires arise due to land being cleared for the cultivation of palm oil. As such, this legislation aims to punish and induce sanctions on private firms and to curb such negative behaviour. Punishments range from a fine of a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $2 million.

Has legislation been successful?

As yet, no companies seem to have been indicted under this legislation and its effectiveness remains to be seen. I would argue that this legislation, unfortunately, does not do much to reduce negative behaviour by private companies, especially since haze still occurs regularly.

Limited reach and interconnected industries

Although provisions in the legislation outline its applicability in activities conducted outside of Singapore, there is virtually no way to enforce these laws unless these firms have a presence within Singapore. The extremely interconnectedness of the various industries make it difficult for authorities to determine which firm played a more significant role in facilitating the fires. While legislation usually does impose costs to discourage undesirable behaviour, these costs can only be actualised and applied if authorities have the reach to impose these costs. Without a regional legislative agreement that can be enforced by all parties in ASEAN, legislation by an individual country will not be the most effective solution.