Malaysia offers Indonesia assistance to fight haze: Minister

Melissa Goh, Malaysia Bureau Chief, Channel NewsAsia 26 Aug 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has offered to assist Indonesia combat raging forest fires by dispatching assets and manpower.

Speaking on Wednesday (Aug 24), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said two Bombardier CL415 capable of carrying up to 6000 litres of water every 12 seconds, are ready to be dispatched to Indonesia once there is official request from Jakarta.

This offer follows increasing number of hotspots detected in south Sumatra and Kalimantan.

“We are ready to assist Indonesia," said Shahidan. "But there are has been no official request yet; the two bombardiers are ready to go."

He added: “We must help our neighbour."

Last October at the height of haze crisis, Malaysia sent its Bombardier aircraft to assist Indonesia in carrying out water bomb operations in Sumatra to douse raging forest fires that were spewing out choking smoke which shrouded the region for weeks.

- CNA/rw