No formal protests over Sumatra, Kalimantan fires: Indonesian lawmaker

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Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia has received no formal diplomatic protests from Malaysia or Singapore over ongoing forest and land fires in parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, an Indonesian lawmaker said Saturday.

Dave Laksono, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ Commission I, said he had received no confirmation of official protest notes from either country.

“Based on the information I have received, there has been no confirmation of official protest notes from either Malaysia or Singapore,” Laksono told ANTARA.

Laksono urged the government to maintain proactive communication with other ASEAN members and strengthen firefighting and prevention measures.

“Early detection, firefighting, aerial operations, supervision of land clearing and law enforcement must be carried out cohesively,” Laksono said.

He urged central and regional governments to ensure effective coordination, particularly in areas highly vulnerable to forest and land fires.

Laksono also called for transparent communication about mitigation efforts and continued dialogue with Malaysia and Singapore to prevent the environmental crisis from becoming a diplomatic dispute.

He suggested establishing channels for information sharing and technical cooperation with neighboring countries if needed.

The comments followed House Speaker Puan Maharani’s remarks Friday that haze from Kalimantan had forced hundreds of schools in Malaysia to close.

Puan also said Singapore had issued advisories to citizens over the haze and urged an immediate resolution. She recalled previous protests from neighboring countries over transboundary haze.

Earlier this month, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahd Nabyl A. Mulachela said Indonesia was coordinating with neighboring countries and using existing ASEAN mechanisms to mitigate the fires’ regional impacts.