Indonesia declines Singapore's assistance to fight fires, says it has enough resources

Singapore reiterated and explained its offer of assistance to tackle the fires at a meeting between Indonesian and Singapore officials held in Jakarta on Thursday.
Channel NewsAsia 2 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: Indonesia has enough resources to fight the forest fires that are causing the haze in the region, and does not need the assistance offered by Singapore at this time, Indonesian officials told a Singapore delegation on Thursday (Oct 1).

The meeting, held in Jakarta, was attended by a small team of officials from Singapore, led by Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) Choi Shing Kwok. Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Gen (Retd) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Head of National Disaster Management Agency Willem Rampangilei also attended the meeting.

It was convened at the invitation of Indonesia, according to a press release issued by MEWR on Friday.

During the meeting, Singapore reiterated and explained its offer of assistance to tackle the fires, including the provision of one Chinook helicopter to conduct water bombing and one C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations.

However, Indonesia clarified that it had enough resources of its own and did not need to call on the assistance offered by Singapore at this time, the ministry said.

The meeting also discussed law enforcement actions by Indonesia against errant companies, while Singapore explained how its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act allows it to take legal action against offenders who cause transboundary haze in Singapore to "supplement Indonesia’s actions while respecting Indonesia’s sovereignty".

“Singapore also reiterated and explained its request for Indonesia to share information that could help identify companies suspected of causing such fires,” MEWR said, adding that the request is being considered by the Indonesian side, “who will respond in due course”.

- CNA/cy


Indonesia again turns down offer to help fight haze
Today Online 2 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE — Indonesia again turned down Singapore’s offer of help to deal with the haze that has choked the region, during a meeting between officials from both countries in Jakarta yesterday (Oct 1).

At the meeting, held at the invitation of Indonesia, Singapore’s officials — led by Permanent Secretary Choi Shing Kwok of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources — had reiterated and explained its offer of assistance to tackle the fires, including the provision of one Chinook helicopter to conduct water bombing and one C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations.

“Indonesia clarified at the meeting that it had enough resources of its own and did not need to call on the assistance offered by Singapore at this time,” the ministry said in a statement today.

The meeting was attended by the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Head of National Disaster Management Agency Willem Rampangilei.

Singapore has repeatedly offered assistance to Indonesia since the haze worsened last month, most recently when Defence Ng Eng Hen flew to Jakarta to meet his Indonesian counterpart earlier this week.

Indonesian officials have maintained that the country is able to handle the fire-fighting operations, although its Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has struck a different note, saying it was open to help from all countries including Singapore.

The haze here lingered at unhealthy levels today, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) at 99 to 129 as at 7pm. The three-hour PSI was 118 and the one-hour PM2.5 concentration was 43 to 80 microgrammes per cubic metre.

The 24-hour PSI tomorrow is expected to be between the mid and high sections of the unhealthy range, and may enter the low end of the very unhealthy range if denser haze is blown in. “Visibility is likely to deteriorate especially in the morning when humidity is high, as moisture has a swelling effect on the haze particles,” the National Environment Agency (NEA) added.

During the meeting yesterday, the Singapore delegation was also briefed on the measures being undertaken by the Indonesian government in Sumatra and Kalimantan to tackle land and forest fires. Also addressed was law enforcement actions by Indonesia against errant companies, and Singapore explained how the Republic’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) can supplement Indonesia’s actions while respecting Indonesia’s sovereignty.

Separately, Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP Group) said it has provided information to the NEA, which last week made a request to the locally-incorporated Asia Pulp and Paper Company (APP) under the THPA. APP Group, which had clarified in a Straits Times report that it is a separate company from APP, also said it has invited the NEA to visit APP’s operations in Indonesia.

“Irrespective of the relationship between (the two entities), we are committed to working together with the NEA on this issue,” APP Group added.

When contacted, NEA did not comment on whether it would take up APP Group’s invitation. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NEO CHAI CHIN

Indonesia says it has enough resources to combat haze, declines help
AsiaOne 2 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE - Indonesia has clarified at a joint meeting with Singapore that it has enough resources to combat the haze crisis, and need not call on Singapore's assistance at this time, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) said in a press statement on Friday (Oct 2).

A small team of officials led by Permanent Secretary Choi Shing Kwok of MEWR met Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Gen (Retd) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Head of National Disaster Management Agency Willem Rampangilei in Jakarta yesterday (Oct 1).

During the meeting, Indonesia briefed the Singapore delegation on its measures to tackle the haze crisis. Singapore had also offered to provide one chinook helicopter to conduct water bombing and one C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations. However Indonesia declined, explaining that it had enough resources of its own.

The meeting also discussed law enforcement actions by Indonesia against errant companies and Singapore explained how its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act allows it to also take legal action against offenders who cause transboundary haze in Singapore. This will help supplement Indonesia's actions while respecting Indonesia's sovereignty.

MEWR added that Singapore had also requested for Indonesia to share information that could help identify errant companies behind the fires. The ministry is currently awaiting Indonesia's response.


Indonesia Has Sufficient Resources, Rejects Singapore's Offer Of Assistance
Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah Bernama 2 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Indonesia has clarified at a meeting between officials of both countries that it has sufficient resources of its own to tackle the haze.

As such, it said there was no need to call on the assistance offered by Singapore at this time.

In response to media queries on the visit by Singapore officials to Jakarta to discuss issued pertaining to the haze, the ministry of environment and water resources (MEWR) said a small team of Singaporean officials led by MEWR permanent secretary Choi Shing Kwok, met with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Gen (Rtd) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Head of National Disaster Management Agency Willem Rampangilei in Jakarta yesterday.

The meeting was convened at the invitation of the Indonesian side.

The Singapore delegation was briefed by the Indonesians on measures being undertaken by the Indonesian Government in Sumatra and Kalimantan to tackle land and forest fires which caused transboundary haze pollution in Singapore and the region.

In the context of this briefing and the discussion that followed, MEWR said Singapore reiterated and explained its offer of assistance to tackle the fires, including the provision of a Chinook helicopter to conduct water bombing and a C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding operations.

It said Indonesia clarified at the meeting that it had sufficient resources of its own and did not need to call on the assistance offered by Singapore at this time.

The meeting also discussed law enforcement measures undertaken by Indonesia against errant companies, and Singapore explained how its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act allowed the island republic to also take legal action against offenders who caused transboundary haze in Singapore to supplement Indonesia's actions, while respecting Indonesia's sovereignty.

In this regard, Singapore also reiterated and explained its request for Indonesia to share information that could help identify companies suspected of causing such fires.

This was being considered by the Indonesian side who would respond in due course, said MEWR.

The haze has blanketed Singapore in recent weeks, to the extent the goverment was forced to close all schools when the air quality reached very unhealthy level on Sept 25.

-- BERNAMA


Indonesian government confused over Singapore help's for haze situation
Hans Nicholas Jong and Ina Parlina, Jakarta Post AsiaOne 3 Oct 15;

Arguing that Singaporeans might learn how fighting forest fires is no easy task, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said Singapore should step in to help Indonesia to combat the fires, the smoke from which has polluted relations between the two nations in recent months.

"We are open to receiving assistance. Don't just talk, just come [to help us]," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday (Sep 27).

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, however, said that Indonesia was continuing its attempts to overcome the problem without outside help.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar had previously turned down Singapore's offer of assistance.

"Once again, we are still trying to do it by our own efforts," Pramono told journalists in Jakarta on Monday (Sep 28).

Singapore had to shut its schools last Friday (Sep 25) and began distributing free antipollution masks to the elderly and other vulnerable people as a thick smoky haze shrouded the island nation, with pollution levels at their worst this year.

The haze - a pall of grayness that resembles wintry fog and virtually obliterates the skyline and seeps inside homes - is an annual problem for the region, resulting from the many forest and peatland fires, caused by slash-and-burn techniques used to clear land for farming and plantations on the island of Sumatra and in Kalimantan.

The haze has caused tensions between Singapore and Indonesia, particularly after Kalla commented recently that neighbouring countries "already enjoy 11 months of clean fresh air from Indonesia", and suggested that it was no big deal if they suffered from the haze for the one month when forests were usually burned.

Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, in a Facebook post, responded by saying his government "takes the matter seriously" and Singapore is "ready to assist Indonesia in combating the fires".

"Yet, at the same time, we are hearing some shocking statements made, at senior levels, from Indonesia, with a complete disregard for our people, and their own - PSI [pollutant standard index] levels in parts of Indonesia are at almost 2,000 PSI."

"How is it possible for senior people in government to issue such statements, without any regard for their people, or ours, and without any embarrassment, or sense of responsibility?" he wrote.

Kalla said that combating forest fires was not as easy as it looked.

"It's better for Singapore to join [fighting forest fires] to learn for sure that it's not that easy. Go ahead [and help us]. Don't assume that we don't extinguish [forest fires] while [in fact] we have deployed many battalions of the Army [to combat forest fires]. But how [to quickly put an end to forest fires] in this dry season?" he said.

Although Kalla instructed Minister Siti to accept Singapore's assistance, Siti said on Monday that she had yet to receive any new instructions regarding the matter and therefore Indonesia would continue to use its "own resources in handling forest fires".

"I have yet to receive new instructions as of Monday because one day after the Vice President told me about his instruction, the President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo returned on Sep 15 from his visit to Middle East countries and we discussed it and the conclusion remains the same, just as is still ongoing today," Siti said on Monday at the State Palace.

Under the proposed assistance, Siti said, Singapore would lend Indonesia a plane with the ability to carry 5,000 liters of water for water-bombing operations and a Chinook aircraft for carrying personnel.

Siti recently said that the assistance was not needed as the government was well-equipped to handle the current situation.