Indonesia holds off on foreign help to fight forest fires, says it can manage on its own

SINGAPORE: Foreign offers of assistance to help Indonesia tackle widespread forest and land fires remain on hold as the country has not declared the situation a national disaster.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman said the government was still capable of handling the fires with its own resources.

"This means that if a national disaster is declared, assistance from foreign countries would become available," he was quoted as saying by Indonesian news outlet Kompas after a ministerial-level meeting in Jakarta on Monday (Oct 19).

"It's not about the assistance itself. There would also be many technical challenges on the ground," he added.

Neighbouring countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, had offered assistance to Indonesia as haze from forest and land fires has affected parts of the region for several weeks.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore would continue working closely with the country and its ASEAN partners to address the issue.

Likewise, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reiterated his country's willingness to help Indonesia tackle the fires, adding that Malaysia had proposed an ASEAN-wide cooperation mechanism to improve coordination, preparedness and joint efforts to address transboundary haze.

“For now, we are still capable. Our country is still capable. As I said earlier, Malaysia has offered assistance, and if a national disaster is declared, that assistance will be extended," Dudung was quoted by Malaysian news outlet Bernama as saying on Monday.

His remarks came after Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said on Oct 15 that Prabowo had approved foreign assistance to tackle the fires, with discussions involving Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) already at the technical stage.

"The president has also given his approval, and discussions are now underway at the technical level. In this case, the technical discussions are being handled by BNPB," Arrmanatha said, as cited by Indonesian news outlet Kompas.

He added that the Indonesian government is deploying approximately 60,000 personnel across six provinces to combat the blazes.

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA READY TO ASSIST

Singapore's Senior Minister K Shanmugam on Monday welcomed Prabowo's approval of foreign assistance to tackle the fires, saying Singapore had offered help and would support Indonesia's efforts.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, acknowledged steps taken by Prabowo's administration to address the haze crisis.

These included replacing the head of the agency responsible for firefighting and disaster relief, issuing directives against slash-and-burn practices on peatland and prioritising long-term fire prevention.

"Some of these steps are quite unprecedented. They show what President Prabowo and his administration's approach and thinking are," Shanmugam said.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had also said that the country was prepared to deploy assets, including a Bombardier CL-415MP firefighting aircraft, three helicopters and 50 personnel, pending official approval from Indonesia.

The offer was first made during Zahid's meeting with Prabowo in West Java in September.