MFA Spokesman's Comments in response to media queries on whether the Government of the Republic of Indonesia has given the names of the errant companies suspected of being involved in the haze to the Government of the Republic of Singapore

        In response to media queries on whether the Government of the Republic of Indonesia has given the names of the errant companies suspected of being involved in the haze to the Government of the Republic of Singapore, the MFA Spokesman said:

         “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a formal request for the names of these companies to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore.  This was in response to the request by the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, who had previously said that if Singapore wanted the names of these companies to be officially sent to it, then this had to be done through the Government-to-Government channel.  We look forward to an early response from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on our requests so that we can take the necessary action against those who are responsible for the haze.  In the same note to the Embassy, the Government of the Republic of Singapore again reiterated its haze assistance offer to Indonesia of:

(i)                One C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding operations;

(ii)             Up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry a fire-fighting assistance team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF);

(iii)           A team from SCDF to provide assessment and planning assistance;

(iv)           High resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates; and

(v)             One Chinook helicopter with one heli-bucket under-slung, subject to their operational availability.

Singapore stands ready to assist Indonesia in its haze combatting and fire-fighting efforts.”

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

7 OCTOBER 2015