Indonesia accepts Singapore’s offer to fight forest fires
Indonesia accepts Singapore’s offer to fight forest fires
11 September 2015
published by www.channelnewsasia.com
Indonesia– Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Friday (Sep 11) said that Indonesia has accepted Singapore’s help to deal with the haze situation.
He had contacted Indonesia’s Defence Minister on Thursday (Sep 10) about the Singapore government’s offer to assist Indonesia to fight the ongoing forest fires in Sumatra.
“Weve offered our Charlies (C-130s) for cloud seeding, and helicopters, Chinooks, for large water buckets to douse the fires in Sumatra,” said Dr Ng. “Thankfully the winds shifted this morning and the haze has come down. We have to find some way of bringing down the problem and Im glad the Indonesian authorities are looking at it.”
Indonesia said on Friday it will send more than 10,000 troops to fight the fire as well.
The National Environment Agency said that the number of hotspots detected in Sumatra increased to 328 on Thursday, up from 140 on Wednesday (Sep 9). Prevailing winds blow smoke into Malaysia and Singapore, shrouding these countries in haze.
Haze levels rose to unhealthy levels in Singapore on Thursday, with the 3-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hitting a high of 248 at 3am on Friday.
