Indonesia has rejected a request by the Singaporean government for access to information on companies suspected of causing annual haze and has called on the city state to deal with the issue under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP).

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry maintained that the agreement, signed in 2002 and ratified by all ASEAN countries by 2014, was the most effective tool to tackle the haze issue, which the ASEAN expected to be solved by 2020.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said the agreement provided a platform for devising collective efforts to prevent, monitor and mitigate transboundary haze, set up region-wide quick response measures and establish legal means of cooperation.

“We encourage all ASEAN members to use this mechanism to address the issue of transboundary haze in our region,” he said.

Arrmanat...