SINGAPORE/JAKARTA, Oct 27 — Indonesia will host Singapore's top diplomat today as tensions simmer between the two neighbours over persistent haze from Indonesia's wildfires and Jakarta's decision to cut gas supplies to the city-state.
Jakarta cut pipelined gas to Singapore by about eight per cent as of Saturday (October 24), saying it was safeguarding domestic supplies. The move came days after Indonesia's Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia threatened to review export contracts with countries "that are not cooperative and do not treat Indonesia with mutual respect".
He did not name the countries.
The visit by Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, which Singapore has yet to confirm, comes as frustration builds in the city-state and neighbouring Malaysia over transboundary haze from Indonesia's most intense forest fires in 11 years.
On Sunday (October 25), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that the island-republic generates up to 95 per cent of its electricity from natural gas, and though the supply cut from Indonesia amounts to less than two per cent of daily demand, he expects contract signatories to "honour their commitments".
Bahlil hit back yesterday, saying the amount of gas now being supplied to Singapore met the minimum level stipulated under their agreement.
"Our nation is a nation that honours contracts, rules. So do not teach Indonesia on how to honour contracts," he told a media conference, where he outlined details of gas exports to "so-called brothers and sisters".
'This entire region is suffering'
Indonesia's fires have raged for months, driving up pollution and respiratory illness across the country, with thick haze also drifting into Singapore, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste.
Singapore has not directly criticised the Indonesian government over the haze and has offered assistance, but it has sent notices to Indonesian companies it says are responsible for the blazes.
Singapore Senior Minister Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan expressed disappointment last week over remarks by an Indonesian official about the haze, who said Indonesia's forests provided Singapore and Malaysia with oxygen.
"Frankly, it is not right to say this when this entire region is suffering as a result of the bad behaviour of companies breaching regulations. The people suffering the most are Indonesians themselves," he said.
Singapore's state investor Temasek and its sovereign wealth fund GIC were also on the defensive last week, rejecting allegations by a former Indonesian trade minister that they had pressured global index provider MSCI to consider demoting Indonesia's equities to "standalone" market status.
Jakarta has not commented on the former minister's allegation.
Veteran Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan called the gas cuts an "attempt at intimidation" but said they would be ineffectual.
"The cost to Indonesia will far, far outlive any twinge we may feel," he said in a Facebook post.
