Indonesia has held off on seeking foreign aid from its neighbours to contain months-long forest fires fuelling a toxic transboundary haze, insisting it is “still capable” of handling the crisis.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman attributed the decision to Jakarta’s delay in declaring the fires a national disaster, despite Japan’s Self-Defence Forces conducting aerial firefighting operations in the country last month. The deployment follows a pact signed in May between Jakarta and Tokyo to expand defence cooperation, including disaster relief.
“This means that if a national disaster is declared, assistance from foreign countries would become available,” Dudung said on Monday, as quoted by local news outlet Kompas.
“It’s not about the assistance itself. There would also be many technical challenges on the ground.”
National disaster declarations are rare in Indonesia, which last assigned the label to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Even cataclysmic events such as the 2018 Lombok earthquake and last year’s Sumatra floods – which left hundreds dead – were not designated national disasters.
Daniel Johan, a lawmaker heading a parliamentary panel on forestry, said the declaration could unlock more government funding and manpower for firefighting.
Environmental campaigners have slammed the government’s response. Greenpeace activist Belgis Habiba rebuked officials for failing to act quickly despite early warnings that the El Nino weather phenomenon would exacerbate dry conditions.
“This situation hasn’t been handled seriously, [as] evidenced by the failure to declare the [fires and haze] a national disaster,” The Jakarta Post quoted her as saying last week.
Indonesia’s apparent U-turn comes just days after Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said the regional aid mechanisms were “already in progress” and had received presidential approval, according to state news agency Antara.
Dudung said Indonesia had the resources to extinguish the blazes, which have blanketed parts of Southeast Asia in a thick smog, forcing school closures, disrupting flights and triggering a spike in respiratory illnesses and demand for medical oxygen and air purifiers.
“For now, we are still capable. Our country is still capable,” he told Malaysian state news agency Bernama on Monday. “As I said earlier, Malaysia has offered assistance, and if a national disaster is declared, that assistance will be extended.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday that Kuala Lumpur had proposed an Association of Southeast Asian Nations-level mechanism to boost coordination and preparedness against the haze. Last month, Malaysia offered to deploy 52 personnel, three helicopters and an aircraft, but Reuters reported that no follow-up action had been taken.
Singapore has also renewed its offer of support. According to news channel CNA, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Monday reiterated the city state’s readiness to help, while placing the blame for the fires on corporate greed.
A September report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said that fire-related haze caused 1,700 deaths in Indonesia the previous month.
The fires also threaten endangered orangutans across six provinces where authorities have mobilised over 60,000 personnel and appointed a new disaster mitigation agency chief to quell the flames.
National police chief Suyudi Ario Seto on Monday said that authorities are investigating 98 firms linked to the fires, adding that their identities would be disclosed once evidence gathering was complete.
According to The Straits Times, the companies under investigation include firms from “neighbouring countries”.
