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JAKARTA \u2013 Indonesia will accept foreign help to fight the forest fires that have blanketed parts of South-east Asia in haze<\/span><\/a>, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said on Oct 15, after days of mixed signals from officials over offers of help from Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n \u201cRegarding the assistance that has been offered by neighbouring countries, this has been discussed, and it is currently being processed. As we know, the President (Prabowo Subianto) has already expressed his approval, and the matter is currently under discussion at the technical level,\u201d Arrmanatha told reporters at the Parliament building in central Jakarta.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very serious matter, one that is receiving the direct attention of the President. As we are all aware, the President\u2019s instructions and directives on this issue have been very firm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Arrmanatha added that national disaster mitigation agency BNPB was handling the technical discussions.<\/p>\n When asked about the foreign assistance, the newly appointed head of BNPB, Lieutenant-General Kristomei Sianturi,<\/span><\/a> told reporters at the Presidential Palace that he would assess what forms of help were available.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Kristomei said.<\/p>\n The confirmation comes after days of Indonesian government officials\u2019 seemingly ambivalent comments towards offers of assistance from Singapore<\/span><\/a> and Malaysia, though they stopped short of rejecting the offers outright.<\/p>\n Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat, for example, said on Oct 13 that the government needed to \u201ccurate\u201d the offers of help.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must first see what kind of assistance it is, whether it is significant or not. Instead of making mistakes later, it\u2019s better for us to curate it first, to make sure that it fits,\u201d Jumhur said at the time, as quoted by state news agency Antara.<\/p>\n Honi Havana, spokesman for the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, made similar remarks on Oct 14.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to discuss the operational requirements, how the personnel deployment and logistical support will work, and so on,\u201d Antara quoted Honi as saying.<\/p>\n The offers of help come as Indonesia struggles with its worst fire season in more than a decade.<\/p>\n Forest fires across the country, particularly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan \u2013 made worse by a strong El Nino <\/span><\/a>weather phenomenon \u2013 have sent haze across the region.<\/p>\n This has driven up respiratory illnesses, shut down schools and resulted in flight cancellations in Indonesia as well as neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n