Arab News | Indonesia accepts Malaysia’s help to tackle wildfires

JAKARTA: Malaysia will send aircraft and dozens of firefighters to help tackle blazes in Indonesia, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Saturday, after receiving approval from Jakarta.

Indonesia has been battling wildfires for weeks in Borneo and Sumatra that have blanketed parts of the country, as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, in toxic haze.

The blazes were among the topics discussed on Friday when Ahmad met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who approved Malaysia’s offer.

“I appreciate Mr. President’s willingness to accept Malaysia’s assistance, including a Bombardier CL-415MP aircraft, three helicopters, and 52 personnel willing to be mobilised to assist in the firefighting operations,” Ahmad said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

The two leaders also discussed preventive measures so that fires and cross-border haze can be addressed “in a more organised manner”, Ahmad said.

Prabowo said on Friday he was thankful for Malaysia’s help.

“This is an environmental problem that affects many parties. And although the fires are in Indonesia, its impacts are felt by our neighbours,” Prabowo said.

“They want to help us, and we welcome that assistance.”

The offer of help comes after Japan sent more than 300 of its soldiers to Borneo, an island that Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei, to help contain the fires last week.

Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, which typically runs from July to October.

However, the fires have intensified this year in part because of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which is expected to be the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.

Experts also blame climate change, decades of forest degradation and slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape.

More than 202,000 hectares of land were burned across Indonesia between January and July, according to the government.

The Nusantara Atlas project put the figure at close to 300,000 hectares over the same period, and estimated that the total area affected was nearly 896,000 hectares when including August.