Indonesia ready to accept foreign firefighting assistance on haze, says foreign minister

[JAKARTA] Indonesia will accept foreign help to fight the forest fires that have blanketed parts of South-east Asia in haze, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said on Oct 15, after days of mixed signals from officials over offers of help from Malaysia and Singapore.

“Regarding the assistance that has been offered by neighbouring countries, this has been discussed, and it is currently being processed. As we know, the President (Prabowo Subianto) has already expressed his approval, and the matter is currently under discussion at the technical level,” Arrmanatha told reporters at the Indonesian parliament building in central Jakarta.

“This is a very serious matter, one that is receiving the direct attention of the President. As we are all aware, the President’s instructions and directives on this issue have been very firm,” he said.

Arrmanatha added that the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) was handling the technical discussions.

When asked about the foreign assistance, newly appointed BNPB head Lieutenant-General Kristomei Sianturi told reporters at the Presidential Palace that he would assess what forms of help were available.

“I will first take stock of the assets we have at our disposal, both at the local and central government level, and then identify what international assistance can be brought in to help us accelerate our efforts,” Kristomei said.

The confirmation comes after days of Indonesian government officials’ seemingly ambivalent comments towards the offers of assistance from Singapore and Malaysia, though they stopped short of rejecting the offers outright.

Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat, for example, had said on Oct 13, that the government needed to “curate” the offers of help.

“We must first see what kind of assistance it is, whether it is significant or not. Instead of making mistakes later, it’s better for us to curate it first, to make sure that it fits,” Jumhur said at the time, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs spokesman Honi Havana had made similar remarks on Oct 14.

“We have to discuss the operational requirements, how the personnel deployment and logistical support will work and so on,” Antara quoted Honi as saying.

The offers of help come as Indonesia struggles with its worst fire season in more than a decade. Forest fires across the country, particularly in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, made worse by a strong El Nino, have sent haze across the region – driving up respiratory illnesses, shutting down schools and causing flight cancellations in Indonesia itself as well as neighbouring countries. THE STRAITS TIMES