Malaysia still awaiting Indonesia's response to firefighting aid offer

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has yet to receive an official response from Indonesia to its offer of firefighting assets to help extinguish forest fires in Kalimantan.

Government spokesman Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet had not received any feedback from the Foreign Ministry or the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

"The Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) said yesterday that he had been in direct contact with the Indonesian President.

"We believe the good relations between the two countries will allow follow-up action to be taken.

"But so far, the Cabinet has received no feedback from Wisma Putra or Nadma. We will wait a little longer," he said after officiating at World Post Day celebrations.

On Oct 5, Malaysia said it had yet to receive a written response from Indonesia to its offer of firefighting assets to tackle forest and land fires linked to transboundary haze.

The Department of Environment said the assets remained on standby pending a formal response from Jakarta.

On the local haze situation, Fahmi advised the public and relevant sectors to refer to their respective ministries for updates on outdoor activities.

He said the Education Ministry and the director-general of education had issued guidelines for schools, while the Youth and Sports Ministry had postponed National Sports Day celebrations due to worsening haze.