Indonesia ready to accept foreign firefighting assistance on haze, says foreign minister

“I will first take stock of the assets we have at our disposal, both at the local and central government level, and then identify what international assistance can be brought in to help us accelerate our efforts,” Kristomei said.

The confirmation comes after days of Indonesian government officials’ seemingly ambivalent comments towards offers of assistance from Singapore and Malaysia, though they stopped short of rejecting the offers outright.

Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat, for example, said on Oct 13 that the government needed to “curate” the offers of help.

“We must first see what kind of assistance it is, whether it is significant or not. Instead of making mistakes later, it’s better for us to curate it first, to make sure that it fits,” Jumhur said at the time, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

Honi Havana, spokesman for the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, made similar remarks on Oct 14.

“We have to discuss the operational requirements, how the personnel deployment and logistical support will work, and so on,” Antara quoted Honi as saying.

The offers of help come as Indonesia struggles with its worst fire season in more than a decade.

Forest fires across the country, particularly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan – made worse by a strong El Nino weather phenomenon – have sent haze across the region.

This has driven up respiratory illnesses, shut down schools and resulted in flight cancellations in Indonesia as well as neighbouring countries.