TEMASEK Holdings sent a team to southern Sumatra this week to check on the plantations owned by CTP Holdings - its joint venture with US commodities giant Cargill, the Singapore investment firm said on Friday.

Temasek added that it has verified that there are no hot spots or fires on CTP's plantations. CTP is a 70:30 joint venture between Cargill and Temasek.

Earlier, Cargill had issued maps showing that the hotspots are not within its plantations.

Temasek said that CTP's plantations are at South Sumatra near Palembang, about 500 km south of Singapore. The hotspots which are causing the haze are in Riau Province in central Sumatra, less than 300 km west of Singapore, it added.

A Temasek spokesman noted: "As a matter of good governance, Temasek expects the boards and management of its investee companies to oversee their operations according to sound commercial principles, including compliance with laws, regulations and recognised industry practices."

CTP has a no-burn policy and practises only mechanical clearing of land, with the whole process overseen by CTP employees, said Temasek.

It added that CTP has firefighting teams, emergency equipment and water tanks on standby, with fire patrol and security teams to monitor potential hotspots near boundaries and prevent fire from spreading onto its property.

Temasek's release is available on:

http://www.temasek.com.sg/mediacentre/newsreleases?detailid=18548