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sia Pulp and Paper (APP), part of local conglomerate Sinar Mas Group, has denied involvement in recent pollution-producing Sumatra forest fires after the company'€™s name was brought into the media spotlight over the issue.

APP managing director for sustainability Aida Greenbury said it was impossible for the country'€™s largest pulp and paper producer to intentionally burn down its own investment and open a new area by scorching natural forests within its concession, since the company was engaged in a zero-burning and zero-deforestation program.

 '€œWe are a hundred percent certain that we are not involved in the fires. We produce pulp and paper, and timber within our industrial forest concession. It would be illogical to burn our own material,'€ she told reporters in a press conference held in Jakarta on Thursday in response to media coverage on the company'€™s possible involvement.

'€œWe have been committed to a zero-burning policy since 1996 and zero-deforestation policy since 2013. If we ever lose natural forests in our concession due to fires, it will cost us dearly to restore and conserve the area,'€ she added.

APP, she explained, had to disburse between US$500 and $1000 per hectare for industrial forests, and between $1000 and $2000 to restore and conserve each hectare of its natural forest.

The company operates 1.1 million hectares of industrial concessions in Riau and the southern part of Sumatra, while its natural forest is around 800,000 hectares, Aida said.

Aida claimed that the company had carried out fire prevention and suppression programs, and also had been involved in conflict resolution with nearby communities, with the moves costing the company $120 million thus far.

She also added that her company had 2,900 firefighters and had trained 2,600 locals from 221 villages near its concession.

APP'€™s name surfaced after Singapore'€™s National Environment Agency (NEA) sent a notice to the company'€™s Singapore office last week inquiring about its possible involvement in the fires that have produced transboundary haze and record-high pollution in the region, forcing the neighboring country to close schools temporarily.

Forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan and transboundary haze are annual regional issues, often causing tension between Indonesia and its neighbors Malaysia and Singapore, as slash-and-burn practices have been pointed out as the main factor behind the fires, which have been exacerbated by El Niño this year,

Strait Times reported that APP stood out among the five companies that Singapore'€™s Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan named last week as possible culprits behind forest fires in concession land in Indonesia, because compared to the four firms also under investigation, two of which are its suppliers, APP is one of the world'€™s largest manufacturers of tissue, stationery and other paper products.

Another company that has been mentioned in the forest fire case is Bumi Mekar Hijau, one of the company'€™s suppliers.

Sinar Mas'€™s managing director, Gandhi Sulistio, said that his group would comply with any legal procedures and support efforts for transparency, adding that the conglomerate group would cut ties with any of its suppliers that are proven to be involved in forest fires.