Indonesian governor’s Singapore trip adds fury to forest fire, haze crisis

The governor of an Indonesian province bearing the brunt of weeks of raging forest fires has sought to douse anger over his trip to Singapore, as Jakarta “welcomed” help from its neighbours choked by transboundary haze to contain the crisis.

East Kalimantan Governor Rudy Mas’ud, who was spotted having breakfast with his wife at the famous integrated resort Marina Bay Sands in a photo posted online on Sunday, said he travelled to the city state for a medical check-up.

Rudy’s clarification came after social media users accused him of going on a jaunt while ignoring the plight of residents gasping for clean air, calling the politician “Indonesia’s Marie Antoinette” and his actions “tone deaf”.

“His constituents are struggling to breathe, fighting for their lives while he living it up, completely unbothered,” a user said.

Others urged a ban on officials from Indonesia’s haze-emitting provinces.

“Why are you guys letting the Kalimantan governor come to Singapore while Kalimantan is literally burning? Singaporeans and Malaysians are choking on the haze, yet you’re still welcoming them?” a commenter said.

Another post also questioned Rudy: “Why are you in Singapore when your city is burning?”

The toxic haze from Indonesia’s forest fires has also triggered school closures in Malaysia and severely degraded Singapore’s air quality, prompting the two sides to offer aid to the neighbouring nation.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said on Thursday the mechanism for the assistance “has already been discussed and it is currently in progress”, state-run Antara news agency reported. “The president has also expressed his approval.”

Calling the fires “an environmental issue that affects many parties”, President Prabowo Subianto said, as quoted by Tempo news magazine: “Although the fires are in Indonesia, their impact is felt by our neighbours. So, they want to help us, and we welcome that.”

Last month, Malaysia offered to deploy three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel to help contain the blazes, but there has been no ⁠follow-up since, Reuters said.

Indonesia appointed a new disaster mitigation agency chief on Thursday as more than 60,000 personnel have been mobilised to extinguish the fires blazing across six provinces.

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The disaster also took a toll on firefighters and endangered orangutans in the country.

Four men died while battling flames at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java on Thursday, Agence France-Presse cited the forestry ministry as saying.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto confirmed on Wednesday that Rudy’s permission to visit Singapore came with caveats.

The itinerary had to be short and “he must coordinate disaster handling promptly”, Bima said.

“When permission is granted, there are notes attached, since this was for health reasons,” Bima said, adding that Rudy could be subjected to further action amid speculation he was in Singapore to attend the Formula One race over the weekend.

“We have not monitored that issue closely. But if there is evidence, then there will be further considerations. If it is true, yes. Because the permission was only for health purposes,” he said.

Lawmaker Riyono, a member of the parliamentary commission overseeing ecological concerns, on Tuesday said officials “should be mindful of their comments and the feelings of the public who are struggling with the smoke every day”.

“Certainly for local officials, governors, regents and police, they must work in synergy and collaboration to make every effort to extinguish the fires.”

Indonesia has ramped up efforts to tackle the fires expected to continue until November and cracked down on companies linked to the disaster.

According to the environment ministry’s data, 12 firms were sealed as of September 15.

The government is also planning to seed the skies over South Sumatra with 1.5 tonnes of dry ice to clear the haze in its first trial of the technique.

“The function of dry ice is to break down the smoke that was previously below so that it can rise upwards,” Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman said on Thursday, as quoted by CNA. “This way, there will be no more smoke accumulation in the city and its surrounding areas.”

It will be used simultaneously with cloud seeding. “The dry ice seeding is specifically to disperse the smoke, while the [weather modification operations] continue to be implemented to stimulate artificial rain to extinguish the fires. So we are making all efforts from various angles,” Dudung said.