Malaysian Prime Minister on Indonesia’s Forest and Land Fires: We Remain Ready to Help

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stated that he is ready to assist Indonesia in tackling the forest and land fires that are causing transboundary haze.

Malaysia has also proposed a cooperation mechanism at the ASEAN level to strengthen efforts to address this issue.

Anwar said he was closely monitoring developments regarding the forest and land fires in Indonesia. According to Anwar, the impact of the haze has been felt by the Malaysian public, particularly in terms of health and daily activities.

These impacts have, amongst other things, led to the closure of schools in a number of states and regions across Malaysia.

“Malaysia remains ready to provide assistance, as we have previously offered,” said Anwar in a Facebook post on Monday (19 October), as reported by Malaymail.

Anwar also commended the Indonesian government’s efforts in deploying tens of thousands of personnel and various aerial assets to extinguish the forest and land fires.

He acknowledged that tackling forest and land fires is a complex challenge. The vastness of the affected area and unpredictable weather conditions pose challenges to fire-fighting efforts.

Anwar emphasised that the issue of cross-border haze requires a shared commitment and responsibility from countries in the region.

These efforts must be carried out in line with the close ties between Indonesia and Malaysia and the spirit of regional cooperation.

“We have proposed a cooperation mechanism at the ASEAN level to strengthen coordination, preparedness and collective action in tackling cross-border haze,” he said, as reported by Bernama.