Indonesia had repeatedly declined offers of help from overseas to tackle the smoke, the main cause of which is companies using fire to clear land for palm oil and pulp wood plantations on Sumatra island and its part of Borneo island.
"We have asked for help and we have received help from Singapore," Widodo said in a statement released on the Cabinet Secretary's Website, adding he also wanted help from Russia, Malaysia and Japan.
"We hope this will speed up the process because fires on peat land is different from regular forest fires," he said.
He did not say what help had come from Singapore but said he was seeking at least three aircraft from Singapore and Russia...
[asiaone.com]
8/10/15
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Six countries to help Indonesia fight forest fires...
ReplyDeleteA total of six countries including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Australia and Russia have offered to help Indonesia put out the forest fires that have caused thick haze in parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Friday (Oct 9) during his visit to Riau in Sumatra.
Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said Singapore is sending on Friday one Chinook helicopter with a 5,000 litre heli-bucket. The assistance was due to arrive in Palembang at 3pm.
Apart from the helicopter, Singapore is also dispatching one Hercules C-130 aircraft carrying 42 personnel from Singapore’s Civil Defence Force.
Aid from other countries may start arriving in Indonesia on Sunday, Antara news agency quoted President Widodo as saying. Their assistance, focusing on the fires in the South Sumatra province, includes water-bombing aircraft with a capacity of more than 10,000 kg.
Malaysia will dispatch one Bombadier amphibious aircraft, one Hercules C-130 aircraft and a survey helicopter to help battle the blaze.
Meanwhile, South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin apologised for the haze crisis in the area, acknowledging that he is most responsible for the haze situation, local news portal Detiknews.com reported. However, he said a change in wind directions contributed to the crisis, as smoke is also blown from Kalimantan to South Sumatra.
He added that authorities in South Sumatra have done all they can to put out the fires, with help from the army, police and the National Disaster Management Agency. He said instead of pointing fingers, all parties involved should work together to extinguish the fires.
- CNA/pp
channelnewsasia.com
9/10/15