Wong urges ASEAN-wide haze crackdown at Manila summit
Why it matters: Singapore recently toughened haze penalties, and Wong wants regional evidence-sharing to pursue companies across borders.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called on ASEAN leaders to turn a Singapore-Indonesia haze task force into a regionwide platform to track and act against companies linked to forest fires. Speaking at the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila on Nov. 15, Wong said the bloc should share information and evidence more readily because fires can break out anywhere in Southeast Asia. He pointed to existing cooperation through the Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution and said prevention must go beyond putting out fires. Wong also praised Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for ordering investigations into this year’s fires, which worsened during an unusually dry El Nino period. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also raised the haze issue at the summit.