Thailand to help RI quash forest fires
Thailand to help RI quash forest fires
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will send six experts to Indonesia
next week to evaluate what help can be given to fight the raging
forest fires that have left much of Southeast Asia engulfed in
smog, reports said yesterday.
Thinnakorn Kannasutra, deputy foreign ministry spokesman said
the experts from the Thai ministry of agriculture and forestry
would fly to Indonesia on Tuesday and visit Sumatra and
Kalimantan, the Bangkok Post reported.
Thailand has said it is willing to provide aeroplanes and
other assistance to fight the forest fires, which rage on
although the poisonous smog is reported to be lifting across the
region.
Southern Thai provinces have been affected by the haze,
although not to the extent of Malaysia and Indonesia.
Earlier this week, deputy foreign minister Pitak
Intarawiriyanon announced Thailand was ready to send water
bombers, fire-fighting teams and medical assistance, the Nation
daily reported.
Army chief General Chettha Thanajaro also said Thailand was
coordinating with Indonesia to send Chinouk helicopters to help
the fire-fighting efforts.
The six experts visiting Indonesia next week will be headed by
the director-general of the Thai forestry department and would be
briefed by Indonesian officials, Thinnakorn said.
Meanwhile Singapore has instituted safety measures to cope
with reduced visibility in its port and surrounding waters due to
the smoky haze in the region, maritime officials said yesterday.
"The present haze situation has reduced the state of
visibility in the Singapore Strait and port waters," the Maritime
and Port Authority (MPA) said in a statement.
It said that over the past month or so there had been
occasions when visibility was cut down from the normal five
nautical miles to about one-and-a-half miles.
"However, port operations have not been significantly
affected," it said.
Singapore has one of the world's busiest ports and is located
off the congested Straits of Malacca, where 29 Indian nationals
were feared killed when a merchant vessel collided with an oil
tanker last month. Not all the bodies have been recovered.
The MPA said that since August, a port marine notice has
warned shipmasters of the haze and reduced visibility in the
Singapore area, and news of the conditions is being issued every
half hour by radio to vessels.
Air pollution levels in Singapore were within healthy levels
yesterday, according to hourly official bulletins, but views of
the port was partly obscured by haze.