ASEAN, Australia sign fire MoI

JAKARTA (JP): The ASEAN Secretariat and Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoI) to support the joint implementation of a field training exercise aimed at the prevention and control of forest fires and haze in West Kalimantan.

The secretariat said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Friday that the field training exercise is designed to assist local government officers and the community to develop a comprehensive action plan for forest fire management. The joint initiative aims at monitoring forest fires in West Kalimantan, and preventing them from getting out of control like between 1997 to 1999.

Under the agreement, Australia will extend a grant of US$173,000 to the ASEAN secretariat.

Indonesia's Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) will implement the monitoring and prevention components and the Ministry of Forestry will develop the mitigation component. The ASEAN secretariat will serve as the project coordinator.