National

Malaysia to Provide Assistance in Handling Haze
Sunday, 14 August, 2005 | 17:51 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:According to Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marty Natalegawa, there have been bilateral talks between Indonesia and Malaysia regarding haze from forest fires in Indonesia that has spread to Malaysia.

“Malaysia has even made a commitment to provide support in handling this matter,” said Natalegawa at the Foreign Ministry, Central Jakarta, on Friday (12/08).

However, as yet there are no clear details on the amount and the form of the assistance.

According to Natalegawa, if there are still problems over the haze, the Foreign Ministry will not be able to do much.

“We do not have the authority to handle this sort of matter. The Foreign Ministry can only discuss this matter at the level of diplomacy and bilateral talks,” he said.

For several days now, several cities in Malaysia have been covered by the haze.

This has forced Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to issue an official statement in order to announce an emergency situation regarding the haze.
(Raden Rachmadi-Tempo News Room)