Malaysia, Indonesia in high-level contact over haze as Jakarta deploys 60,000 to fight fires, says Indonesian minister

Indonesia and Malaysia maintain diplomatic communication to address transboundary haze from forest fires, with leaders discussing firefighting efforts and potential rainfall aid.

Malaysia offers assistance to Indonesia and proposes an Asean meeting to coordinate regional efforts against the haze problem.

Indonesia reported an increase in hotspots, particularly in Central Kalimantan, with poor air quality detected in parts of Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua.

JAKARTA, Oct 11 — Indonesia and Malaysia have maintained high-level diplomatic communication over transboundary haze caused by forest and land fires, following a telephone conversation between their leaders amid concerns over worsening air pollution.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said he had spoken to his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, to explain Indonesia’s firefighting efforts.

“We have deployed more than 60,000 personnel. This is indeed a challenge because weather conditions are currently not in our favour, but we hope the situation will ease soon as rainfall is expected,” he told reporters.

Arrmanatha was responding to questions about Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement on Thursday that he had contacted Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto over the haze situation.

Anwar also said Malaysia was ready to assist Indonesia in tackling the fires and had instructed the Foreign Minister to contact the Asean Secretariat to seek a meeting of regional environment ministers to coordinate efforts to combat transboundary haze.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry reported a sharp increase in hotspots nationwide, to 793 as of 9.10 pm local time on Saturday, up from 437 the previous day. The six priority provinces accounted for 421 hotspots, up from 270 a day earlier.

According to the ministry’s monitoring system, Central Kalimantan recorded the highest number, at 288, followed by South Sumatra (60), West Kalimantan (44), South Kalimantan (28) and Jambi (one), while Riau recorded none.

“Today’s increase serves as a reminder that vigilance must not depend on trends over just one or two days,” the ministry said in a video update posted on its official Instagram account.

The ministry said air quality monitoring based on PM2.5 concentrations continued to show unhealthy to very unhealthy conditions in several areas, with pockets of hazardous pollution detected in parts of Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua.

It added that 61 aircraft remained on standby, comprising 44 for water-bombing operations and 17 for aerial patrols and weather-modification operations, supported by ground firefighting teams. — Bernama

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印度尼西亚和马来西亚保持外交沟通，以应对森林火灾造成的跨境烟霾问题，两国领导人讨论了灭火工作和可能的降雨援助。

马来西亚向印度尼西亚提供援助，并提议召开东盟会议，协调区域应对雾霾问题的努力。

印尼报告称，热点地区数量增加，尤其是在加里曼丹中部地区，加里曼丹、苏门答腊和巴布亚部分地区空气质量较差。

雅加达，10 月 11 日——印尼和马来西亚就森林和土地火灾造成的跨境烟霾问题保持着高级别的外交沟通。此前，两国领导人就日益严重的空气污染问题进行了电话交谈。

印度尼西亚外交部长阿玛纳塔·纳西尔表示，他已与马来西亚外长拿督斯里穆罕默德·哈山通话，解释印度尼西亚的消防工作。

“我们已经部署了超过6万名人员。这确实是一个挑战，因为目前的天气状况对我们不利，但我们希望随着降雨的到来，情况很快就会好转，”他告诉记者。

阿曼纳塔是在回应有关马来西亚总理拿督斯里安瓦尔·易卜拉欣周四发表的声明时做出上述表态的。安瓦尔·易卜拉欣表示，他已就雾霾情况与印度尼西亚总统普拉博沃·苏比安托进行了联系。

安华还表示，马来西亚已准备好协助印尼应对火灾，并已指示外交部长联系东盟秘书处，寻求召开区域环境部长会议，以协调应对跨境烟霾的努力。

与此同时，印尼林业部报告称，全国森林火灾热点地区数量急剧增加，截至周六晚9点10分（当地时间），已达793处，高于前一天的437处。其中，六个重点省份的热点地区数量为421处，高于前一天的270处。

根据该部监测系统的数据，中加里曼丹记录的病例数最多，为 288 例，其次是南苏门答腊（60 例）、西加里曼丹（44 例）、南加里曼丹（28 例）和占碑（1 例），而廖内省则没有记录到病例。

“今天的增长提醒我们，警惕不能仅仅依赖于一两天的趋势，”该部在其官方 Instagram 账号上发布的视频更新中表示。

该部表示，基于 PM2.5 浓度的空气质量监测继续显示，多个地区的空气质量状况不健康甚至非常不健康，加里曼丹、苏门答腊和巴布亚的部分地区检测到了有害污染。

声明还补充说，目前仍有61架飞机处于待命状态，其中44架用于洒水灭火行动，17架用于空中巡逻和人工气象行动，地面消防队提供支援。——马新社

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