Indonesia Accepts Foreign Fire Aid, Nasir Says — SkimNews
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- Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters at Parliament on Oct 15 that Indonesia would accept foreign firefighting help, noting that President Prabowo Subianto had already approved the move.
- BNPB, the national disaster mitigation agency now led by newly appointed head Lt-Gen Kristomei Sianturi, is conducting the technical-level discussions on aid offers from Singapore and Malaysia, with Sianturi saying he would first take stock of existing local and central government assets.
- Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat said on Oct 13 that Indonesia needed to "curate" the offers of help to ensure they were significant, while Coordinating Ministry spokesman Honi Havana made similar remarks on Oct 14 about assessing operational requirements and logistics — neither rejecting the aid outright.
- Forest fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia's worst in more than a decade and worsened by a strong El Niño, have sent haze across the region, driving up respiratory illnesses, shutting schools and cancelling flights in Indonesia and neighbouring countries.
Why it matters: Indonesia's greenlight ends days of mixed signals from officials that had stalled Singapore and Malaysia's offers; BNPB is now finalizing technical arrangements to fight the worst fires in over a decade, which have already shut schools and grounded regional flights across South-east Asia.
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