Indonesia needs water-bombing aircraft to put out fires: Indonesian envoy to Malaysia

The Star 23 Oct 15;

BANGI: Indonesia needs more equipment and not firemen to help put out its fires, said Indonesian Embassy minister counsellor Freddy M. Panggabean.

He cited equipment, especially water-bombing aircraft, to fly over the hundreds of fire hotspots that have been emitting haze over Malaysia.

“From the beginning, we never required any personnel (or) staff assistance to help with this haze problem because we have enough.

“What we need (is) the equipment and aircraft with the bigger capacity to carry water (of more than) 6,000 (litres),” he said at a forum on the haze at UKM.

It was previously reported that the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department had not received any official request from Indonesia to send firemen to put out its fires.

Department director-general Datuk Wira Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim had said that 1,500 firemen were available for two weeks for this purpose.

Hundreds of hotspots have been raging in various parts of Indonesia, especially Sumatra and Kalimantan, over the past two months.

Panggabean said that 32 helicopters and aircraft were already deployed over Indonesia to put out the fires.

Six of these were from Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. This includes seven fixed wing water-bombers and four planes for cloud seeding.

Two Russian Beriev Be-200 amphibious water-bombers, capable of dropping 12,000 litres each, have also been brought in.

Panggabean did not say how many more aircraft Indonesia needed for the fires.

Meteorological Department spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip said that the northeast monsoon was expected to kick in soon.

This, he said, meant that the haze might be pushed back by winds from the South China Sea heading west next week.

“We predict that by the middle or end of next week, it (skies) will be clear, hopefully,” he said.


Indonesia requests further Australian aircraft to fight fires
Peter Alford The Australian 23 Oct 15;

Indonesia has asked for further help from Australia to tackle the worsening wildfires crisis.

Further Indonesian requests for Australian firefighting aircraft would have to be assessed against deteriorating bushfire conditions at home, Julie Bishop said today.

Ms Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi were expected to discuss Indonesia’s worsening wildfires crisis later today in Padang, West Sumatra, where they are attending the Indian Ocean Rim Association ministerial meeting.

“We stand ready to assist Indonesia,” Ms Bishop said before their meeting. “I know that other countries in the region are helping Indonesia fight this regional challenge.

“We have made it clear to the Indonesians that we also face a challenging time as we go into the bushfire season in Australia and, of course, there are fires in NSW and Victoria.

“So we will assess any request that is made of us, but most certainly in the context of our capacity to assist.”

BNPB, Indonesia’s disaster management authority, said earlier this week it would ask for about 15 aircraft from Australia, Russia and Canada to help battle fires that stretch across the archipelago from Riau in Sumatra to Papua.

An Australian Hercules L100 water bomber, a tracker aircraft and crews from the NSW rural fire service last week helped battle some of the worst fires in South Sumatra.

But the aircraft and a group from Malaysia headed home at the weekend; Singapore continues to help with aerial firefighting and two water bombers arrived from Russia on Wednesday.

More than 450,000 Indonesians have needed medical treatment for respiratory illnesses caused by the noxious smoke and at least 12 people have died as a direct result.

The Indonesian navy today dispatched a warship each to Palembang, South Sumatra, and Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, to assist in evacuations from two of the areas worst hit by fires and choking “haze”.

The vessels, each capable of carrying up to 1,500 people will stand ready for any order to evacuate infants and young children at worst risk from the haze.

Senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan confirmed he had cancelled his trip to Washington, accompanying President Joko Widodo, to take charge of the wildfires emergency, now entering its fifth month.

“On Thursday I asked permission from the President to cancel my trip to America … so I can handle the haze problem along with the other ministries,” the Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Law said today.

Although Padang is several hundred kilometres from the worst of the Sumatra fires, Ms Bishop had a taste of conditions this morning as she jogged in the grey-yellow haze enveloping the city.


Jakarta to boost fleet of waterbombers
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times AsiaOne 22 Oct 15;

Indonesia is planning to reinforce the fleet of fixed-wing waterbombers involved in the ongoing firefighting operations over South Sumatra, said the country's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

This, after two Russian Beriev Be-200 waterbombers, each capable of hauling 12,000 litres of water in its hull to douse fires, were involved in yesterday's operations.

These aircraft have special tanks designed for mixing water and firefighting chemicals to boost their effectiveness when putting out fires, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said yesterday.

"The two aircraft will continue to focus on Ogan Komering Ilir, where fires are still raging violently," he added, referring to the regency in South Sumatra, which remains one of the worst hit by peatland fires this year.

"Right now, the government is still trying to procure between 10 and 15 additional fixed-wing waterbombing aircraft from Canada, Russia and Australia."

Separately, in a report by Indonesia's Tempo news magazine earlier this week, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan commented on the challenges of putting out peatland fires during this dry season.

In an apparent reply to a question on why Singapore's offer of assistance was initially turned down by his government, Mr Luhut was quoted as saying that it was because Singapore "offered only one aircraft. It was insulting".

When asked for a response at a briefing yesterday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said:

"Singapore did offer one aircraft and we accepted the offer. It shows a good faith that we work together with our neighbours. We also work together with Malaysia, Australia. We appreciate all international assistance."

When the haze crisis peaked last month, Singapore had offered an assistance package which included a C-130 military transport plane for cloud seeding, up to two C-130s to ferry a firefighting assistance team, as well as a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial firefighting.