KL ready to help RI battle forest fires<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysian firefighters have been put on alert to help combat
\nhundreds of fires raging out of control in Indonesia and sending
\nplumes of smoke billowing across nearby countries, news reports
\nsaid on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian government would dispatch firefighters to
\nIndonesian territories worst hit by blazes, mainly parts of
\nKalimantan province on Borneo island, if Indonesian authorities
\nmake a request, said Malaysian Deputy Housing and Local
\nGovernment Minister Peter Chin.<\/p>\n
\"We are waiting for a directive ... so that our firemen can
\nhelp them fight the fires there,\" Chin was quoted as saying by
\nthe Sunday Star newspaper.<\/p>\n
The out-of-control fires -- set by farmers, plantation owners
\nand loggers to clear land -- have raged on Indonesia's portion of
\nBorneo and Sumatra islands since the beginning of August.<\/p>\n
Cash-strapped local authorities say they are forced to depend
\non poorly trained volunteers, many of whom fight the blazes with
\nonly pick axes and leaky hoses.<\/p>\n
Smoky haze from the fires has forced flight delays in
\nIndonesia, school closures and sent hundreds of residents to
\nhospitals because of respiratory ailments.<\/p>\n
The haze has also swathed several parts of neighboring
\nMalaysia and Singapore. Visibility in Kuching, the capital of
\nMalaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island, plunged to 0.8
\nkilometer (0.5 mile) on Sunday, the meteorological department
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Singapore's National Environmental Agency, which uses
\nsatellites to monitor fires in the region, said \"hot spots\",
\nalready numbering in the hundreds, have increased significantly
\nin recent days.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Bernama news agency said a team of Malaysian
\nexperts would visit Kalimantan next week following a meeting
\nbetween the country's Science, Technology and Environment
\nMinister Law Hieng Ding and his Indonesian counterpart Nabiel
\nMakarim at this month's Earth Summit in South Africa.<\/p>\n
\"I will meet my counterpart, Nabiel Makarim, in Pontianak on
\nSeptember 27 to discuss related issues ahead of a Malaysian team
\nwhich will be brought to the site concerned,\" Law told Bernama.<\/p>\n
Pontianak is the capital of West Kalimantan province, where
\nhundreds of people had been treated as a result of the smoke that
\npolluted the air and water.<\/p>\n
Periods of smoke or haze, which blanketed parts of Indonesia,
\nMalaysia and Singapore in 1997 and 1998, cost the regional
\neconomies $9 billion, mainly in agriculture, transportation and
\ntourism.<\/p>\n
Conservationists have long criticized Jakarta for failing to
\nprotect its natural resources. Indonesia admits its laws are too
\nweak to deal with the problem and is promising reform.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kl-ready-to-help-ri-battle-forest-fires-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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