More than 30 Members of Parliament filed over 50 questions addressing the public health consequences of severe smoke exposure and the lack of successful prosecutions against foreign polluters. Proposed amendments to the 2014 Transboundary Haze Pollution Act will empower authorities to scrutinize corporate holdings and demand operational documents from responsible firms. Lawmakers are also requesting broader protections for laborers exposed to the elements and longer-interval PM2.5 forecasts. In addition to environmental policy, the parliamentary sitting will cover road transport reforms and simplified Muslim divorce procedures.
Key points
Proposed reforms to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act aim to close corporate liability…: Proposed reforms to the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act aim to close corporate liability loopholes that have historically blocked cross-border environmental prosecutions.
Lawmakers are actively pressing the government to introduce improved indoor air filtratio…: Lawmakers are actively pressing the government to introduce improved indoor air filtration support and stronger workplace protections for vulnerable outdoor laborers.
Upcoming parliamentary debates will address domestic matters beyond pollution, including…: Upcoming parliamentary debates will address domestic matters beyond pollution, including Certificate of Entitlement restructuring and legislation streamlining Muslim divorce processes.
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SINGAPORE - Singapore’s response to the haze will be high on the agenda when Parliament sits this week, with questions on the Republic’s legal and regulatory levers at the fore.
More than 30 MPs have filed over 50 questions on how Singapore is tackling the haze, which escalated here in early September in the most severe bout in more than a decade.
They come as the Government has said it would introduce changes to current haze laws in Parliament this week to give it more teeth in dealing with companies responsible for the widespread burning in Indonesia.
The majority of questions on the haze zoom in on the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA), a law passed in 2014 to target those responsible for causing or condoning fires.
The law can be triggered when the haze causes the Pollutant Standards Index air quality measure to stay in the unhealthy range in any part of Singapore for 24 hours or more.
There have been no fines or convictions under the law even though it has been wielded twice, with preventive measure notices…
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