Singapore media said last week the city-state was planning to prosecute Indonesian polluters in Singapore courts under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.
Home to the world’s third-largest area of tropical forests, Indonesia has been criticised by green activists and by neighbouring Southeast Asian nations for failing to stop the region’s annual “haze” caused by forest-clearing for palm and pulp plantations.
“The law that applies is in Indonesia,” Kalla told reporters as quoted by Detik.com media portal.
Palm oil is a major growth driver for Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of the edible oil. Indonesia’s president pledged in April to tackle the fires by imposing a moratorium on expansion of plantations.
– REUTERS