Aussies help RI fight fires

JAKARTA: A team of six Australian fire fighting experts will arrive over the weekend to advise Indonesia in its battle against forest fires, the Australian Embassy says in a statement.

The team, along with Phil Koperberg, Commissioner of the New South Wales Bush Fire Service, met with Australian Minister for Development Cooperation Gordon Bilney in Canberra, the statement said on Thursday.

"Large forest fires have been causing problems in Indonesia's Kalimantan province for sometime," Bilney was quoted as saying.

He said thousands of hectares of tropical rain forests had been destroyed and the resulting smoke is a problem for neighboring countries.

Bilney said team members will also suggest measures to strengthen Indonesia's national and local fire fighting capability.

The team members are Tony Howe, Michael Watts, Stuart Midgley, Bruce Holz, Tarini Casinader and Stuart Hoverman.(bas)