'We send oxygen too': Indonesian official responds to concerns of Singapore, Malaysia over haze“我们也输送氧气”：印尼官员回应新加坡和马来西亚对雾霾的担忧
The head of Indonesia's government communications agency has described its forests as a supplier of oxygen amid concerns from Singapore and Malaysia over regional haze from widespread fires."We're not just sending over the haze. When there's no haze, we send oxygen," Syahganda Nainggolan reportedly said."The oxygen from Singapore and Malaysia is from our forests, right?" Indonesian news outlet Kompas reported...
The head of Indonesia's government communications agency has described its forests as a supplier of oxygen amid concerns from Singapore and Malaysia over regional haze from widespread fires.
"We're not just sending over the haze. When there's no haze, we send oxygen," Syahganda Nainggolan reportedly said.
"The oxygen from Singapore and Malaysia is from our forests, right?" Indonesian news outlet Kompas reported him saying in a report published on Saturday (Oct 10).
Syahganda also framed the forest and and land fires as a natural phenomenon, adding that the Indonesian government understood its neighbours' concerns over the resulting haze.
"We hope our neighbours understand that this is beyond human error; this is truly nature," Kompas quoted him as saying.
Syahganda added that the government is continuing to explain the haze situation to Singapore and Malaysia, including the measures being taken to address it.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had sent a representative through Malaysia's foreign minister to discuss the forest fires with Indonesia's foreign minister, Kompas reported.
"We are going into detail about the discussions so that we can overcome this situation together. This was just a few days ago, I will look into it," Syahganda said, according to Kompas.
Anwar had also spoken to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to express his concerns over the haze situation, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported.
In a separate development, Sustainability and the Environment Minister Grace Fu said Singapore is also in contact with Indonesia and ready to assist in tackling the forest fires .
"We are aware that efforts are going on. We stand ready to assist where we can," she said on Oct 10.
helmy.saat@asiaone.com
印尼政府通讯机构负责人表示，印尼的森林是氧气的供应地，此前新加坡和马来西亚对大范围火灾造成的区域性雾霾表示担忧。
据报道，Syahganda Nainggolan 表示：“我们不只是输送雾霾。如果没有雾霾，我们就输送氧气。”
“新加坡和马来西亚的氧气都来自我们的森林，对吧？”印尼新闻媒体《罗盘报》在周六（10月10日）发表的一篇报道中援引他的话说。
Syahganda 还将森林和土地火灾描述为一种自然现象，并补充说，印尼政府理解邻国对由此产生的烟雾的担忧。
“我们希望邻居们能够理解，这并非人为错误，而是真正的自然现象，”《罗盘报》援引他的话说。
Syahganda补充说，政府正在继续向新加坡和马来西亚解释雾霾情况，包括正在采取的应对措施。
据《罗盘报》报道，马来西亚总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣已通过马来西亚外交部长派遣代表与印度尼西亚外交部长讨论森林火灾问题。
据《罗盘报》报道，沙赫甘达表示：“我们正在深入讨论，以便共同克服这一局面。这件事就发生在几天前，我会调查此事。”
据马来西亚《星报》报道，安瓦尔还与印尼总统普拉博沃·苏比安托通话，表达了他对雾霾情况的担忧。
另据报道，新加坡可持续发展与环境部长傅海燕表示，新加坡也正与印度尼西亚保持联系，并准备协助应对森林火灾。
“我们知道各方都在努力。我们随时准备在力所能及的范围内提供帮助，”她在10月10日表示。
helmy.saat@asiaone.com