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JAKARTA – Indonesia has asked Malaysia and Singapore to understand that the forest and land fires causing the current transboundary haze are allegedly the result of natural phenomena, not human error.
Indonesian Government Communications Agency (Bakom) head Syahganda Nainggolan said the government understood both countries’ concerns over air pollution from the forest fire smoke affecting several regions of the republic.
However, he stressed that the incident was beyond human control and should be seen as part of a natural phenomenon.
“So we also ask all our neighbouring countries to understand that this is happening beyond human error. This is truly a natural phenomenon,” he said at the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) office in Jakarta on Saturday.
According to Kompas.com, Syahganda said diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Malaysia remained good even though both countries were now facing a transboundary air pollution issue.
He said the Indonesian government continued to brief Malaysia and Singapore on the fire situation and the efforts under way to tackle it.
Syahganda also said Indonesia was not only contributing to the spread of smoke but also supplying oxygen to its neighbours through its vast forest areas.
“We don’t just send smoke. When there is no smoke, we send oxygen.
“The oxygen in Singapore and Malaysia also comes from our forests,” he said.
Syahganda also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had sent a representative, foreign minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, to discuss the fires with his Indonesian counterpart.
He said the two countries were working out the details of their discussions to find a joint approach to tackling the forest and land fires that cause the haze.
“We are working out the details of the discussions so that this forest fire problem can be tackled together,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian government had earlier expressed hope that technical talks with Indonesia on firefighting operations could be concluded quickly so that assistance teams could be sent to the affected areas. – Agencies
