Vivian Balakrishnan, the Environment and Water Resources Minister, suggested changes to the Transboundary Haze Pollution bill in Parliament today.
He suggested that the penalties for companies who burn and cause haze should be S$100,000 for every day that burning has occurred causing haze in Singapore.
This way, explained Dr Balakrishnan, companies would be incentivised to put out fires as soon as possible instead of feeling like they are already going to be punished for burning for 1 day, meaning they will not care about burning on subsequent days.
The bill also proposes that companies be fined $50,000 for every day on non compliance with an order to take preventative measures.
The total maximum penalty will be S$2 million.
The bill also creates civil liability for companies that are caught burning so that individuals and companies can take up civil lawsuits against polluting companies.
If directors of errant companies visit Singapore, a court can order that he remain in Singapore to give evidence or information in court.
While the bill would put harsh penalties on haze causing companies, the difficulty lies in the fact that Singapore laws are only applicable in Singapore. Where foreign based companies are involved, it may be extremely difficult to bring them to justice in Singapore.
Talking about this problem, Vivian Balakrishnan explained that Singapore needs effective collaboration, cooperation between governments and plenty of shared information to properly address the issues.