Jakarta (ANTARA) – Speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR) Puan Maharani said she would coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address concerns over impacts from wildfires in Kalimantan on neighboring countries.
“I will coordinate on this matter, asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish effective communication,” Maharani remarked in Jakarta on Thursday.
While acknowledging the government’s ongoing measures to contain forest and land fires, she said the parliament deemed greater efforts necessary to ensure the immediate and complete containment of wildfires.
Maharani underscored the importance of the government paying attention to potential impacts on public health and education sector. The lawmaker stressed that firefighting operations must be followed by forest and land rehabilitation initiatives.
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Earlier, DPR Commission I Deputy Speaker Dave Laksono emphasised that Indonesia had not received any diplomatic note of protest over transboundary haze from the wildfires.
“To my knowledge, there has been no confirmed official protest notes from Malaysia or Singapore to Indonesia,” Lasono told ANTARA on Saturday (August 22).
Even so, he assured Indonesia would continue striving to suppress the fires while maintaining communication with neighboring countries.
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Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assured the public of continued diplomatic engagement with neighboring nations, highlighting Indonesia’s commitment to maintaining good relations through ASEAN mechanisms.
“The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry continues coordinating with various ministries and other countries while making use of monitoring and information exchange mechanisms recognised by ASEAN,” the Ministry’s spokesperson Vahd Nabyl A. Mulachela said.
During a press briefing in Jakarta on August 13, Mulachela pointed to Indonesia’s commitment to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, signed in 2002.
He affirmed the Ministry is determined to work with relevant institutions on wildfire prevention and containment while minimising impacts on neighboring countries.
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Translator: Fath Putra, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Fransiska Ninditya
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