Indonesia Pushes ASEAN to Ratify Haze Control Center
Indonesia is urging ASEAN member states to ratify the Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control to combat regional forest and peatland fires.
The Government of Indonesia is pushing for the ratification of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC-THPC) ahead of the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila. Although the center's secretariat is based in Jakarta, it remains non-operational because only Vietnam has ratified the agreement; six member states must do so for the center to function.
Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir is leading the regional push for ratification while coordinating domestic efforts to stop forest and peatland fires. These actions follow a directive from President Prabowo Subianto to target irresponsible business practices. As part of this strategy, Indonesia and Singapore formed a Joint Task Force on Strengthening Business Responsibilities on October 27 to enhance evidence gathering and information sharing.
Domestically, the Indonesian National Police have identified more than 200 individuals and 20 corporations as suspects in cases of negligence or deliberate land-clearing. These suspects include firms from South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore.
