Indonesia deploys 54,000 personnel, 64 aircraft but struggles to contain fires as toxic haze chokes Malaysia

PONTIANAK, Sept 21 — Indonesian authorities are struggling to contain massive forest fires, deploying 54,000 personnel and 64 aircraft to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the Cabinet Secretary reported on Monday. The government aims to extinguish the fires, reduce smoke impact, and protect public health from the threat of forest and land fires.

However, the vast territory and challenging conditions of peatlands present significant difficulties in dealing with the fires in various regions, the Cabinet Secretary added. Toxic haze from the fires has blanketed parts of Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia for weeks. West Kalimantan province, on Borneo island, is one of the worst-affected areas, with the disaster mitigation agency citing varied fire depths within peat soils and limited water sources as challenges.

Japan's Self-Defense Forces have sent 350 members to assist in firefighting efforts in West Kalimantan. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has expressed readiness to accept help from Malaysia, where air pollution has reached unhealthy levels due to haze and dry conditions. Malaysian authorities launched cloud seeding operations in three southern states to ensure the continuity of water supply and clear some of the haze.

Kuala Lumpur and Kuching, Malaysian cities with unhealthy air pollution levels, recorded readings of 156 and 157 on the Air Pollutant Index scale, respectively. Indonesia frequently battles wildfires during the dry season, which runs from July to October, but this year's blazes are more intense, coinciding with the strongest El Nino climate phenomenon in four decades and attributed to climate change, forest degradation, and slash-and-burn land-clearing practices.