Sept. 28, online

The Indonesian government welcomed any country, including Singapore, that wanted to help extinguish forest and land fires in the country to remove the haze, said Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

'€œGo ahead, we are open. Singapore can come and see for themselves if they want to help. Don'€™t just talk [about it],'€ said Kalla on Sunday in New York, United States, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Previously, Singapore expressed frustration with Indonesia regarding the smog that has affected the country.

Kalla said that the Indonesian government had worked hard to eliminate the fires but it was difficult to do in a short time. '€œThe problem is, in addition to the hot weather, the fires in Indonesia are worsened by the wind,'€ said Kalla.

Your comments:

Pak Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, in your capacity as the President, please ask Pak Jusuf Kalla (JK) to temporarily keep silent a while, as an expert in forestry has suggested, elaborate to people what is happening with the fire-prone peat land and our plan to extinguish the fires.

To our neighbors, please inform them of the very hard work of our firefighters are doing to douse the fires and, if necessary, apologize.

Robby Kaware

It'€™s yet another poor comment from a senior state official. Arrogance and ignorance should come as total embarrassment to Indonesia.

As the fires are mostly deliberately lit and they happen every year there is a strong case for criminal neglect against the Indonesian government.

As a nation, how much of this incoherence and incompetence can Indonesia take? There must be a point where it all implodes and I suggest that point is close.

FJ

Singapore has offered assistance but been rejected. This issue certainly affects not only Indonesians, but also the people in neighboring countries.

This arrogant attitude unfortunately has been the one thing that those politicians all share in common.

Simba

It rather sounds like Kalla made this statement after the government considered legal action by Singapore and the possibility of a class action by citizens who have suffered endlessly and even for those that died as a result.  

Joko Ono

Just a few days ago once again Kalla said that Singapore should be grateful for the 11 months of fresh air from Indonesia (for free!), but instead that it only complains about the one month of haze (of course it'€™s now more than one month already and is actually the second time this year). And now this new complaint about Singapore.

Most obviously, not only is haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan terribly affecting thousands of Indonesians, aside from Singaporeans and Malaysians, but also the economy.

Gordon Freeman

Pak JK doesn'€™t even know that Singapore offered assistance, but Indonesia declined it not only once but twice. Looks like Singapore and Malaysia should implement economic sanctions against Indonesia, including an import ban, to teach the country how important it is to respect your neighbors and respect your own citizens.

Nukestorm

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