The man in charge of fighting the deadly haze from Indonesia said yesterday that the country has enough money and equipment to manage the fires themselves.
They do not any help from Malaysia or Singapore, he said. “We welcome any cooperation and offers of support but we are capable of handling the fires ourselves,” Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister Agung Laksono told The Jakarta Post and other reporters after a key meeting with other ministers.
The Indonesian government yesterday put up RP100 billion to fight the fires in Riau that have caused choking haze over Riau and its neighbours Malaysia and Singapore.
Two people died in Johor last Monday of haze-related breathing difficulties. Laksono said the money would pay for renting water-bombing equipment from South Korea and Russia.
So far 14 people have been arrested in the past week for starting the fires. “The number of suspects could still increase depending on our investigation,” a key member of the Riau Haze Task Force, Sr. Comr. Agus Sofyan Abadi Agus told the Indonesian daily.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan Zulkifli said in Jakarta about those held for arson: “Among the 14, 11 burned areas are covered by forest concessions and oil palm plantations. We still must prove whether the suspects are affiliated with the companies.” He would name the companies that many believe had paid arsonists to start fires.
But Agus said the suspects were local residents and were mostly paid by other people to burn bushes to expand farmland
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