Indonesia says it's 'still capable' of handling forest fires on its own, but welcomes S'pore & M'sia's assistance
He highlighted technical obstacles on the ground.
Indonesia is still confident in its ability to handle the forest fires, despite neighboring countries offering assistance. Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman stated on October 19 that the country is still capable of managing the situation, refusing to declare the fires a national disaster which would require foreign aid.
The Indonesian government has deployed 47 aircraft and 60,000 personnel, and increased aerial operations to tackle the blazes. Singapore and Malaysia have each offered assistance, with Singapore ready to provide suitable help, including civilian firefighting and cloud-seeding support. Despite receiving these offers, Indonesia has not yet declared the fires a national disaster.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.