Time to speak plainly on haze

Phlip Rodrigues

When Malaysia offered to help Indonesia fight the raging forest fires and end the haze misery, the response was warm but slow.

Deputy PM Zahid Hamidi made the offer on 17 September. He met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at his residence in West Java the next day.

Prabowo welcomed the offer. He said Malaysia was sending one aircraft, three helicopters and 52 personnel, and that they would be deployed soon. In principle, Jakarta accepted the assistance then; what remained unsettled were the operational arrangements for deploying the Malaysian team and assets.

But as the haze worsened, there was little public word on when the help would arrive.

On 10 October, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir spoke for Jakarta. He merely briefed Malaysia on the steps taken by its giant neighbour to fight the widespread forest and land fires.

He told Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan that Indonesia had deployed more than 60,000 personnel and 48 helicopters and aircraft form water-bombing and weather-modification operations.

Perhaps Prabowo had asked Arrmanatha to give the briefing after a call that week from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressing concern over the worsening haze.

Prabowo then chaired a meeting on 12 October to order tougher action. Reports said offers from Malaysia and Singapore were not discussed at that meeting.

On 15 October, Arrmanatha said Prabowo had approved the proposed help from neighbouring countries. Technical talks are now under way. He did not say which countries or what type of help.

Zahid welcomed the news the next day and said Malaysia stood ready to send aid.

That is welcome, but it came after nearly four weeks. The pertinent point is not that Jakarta is doing all it can to put out the fires. The overriding issue was whether Big Brother would quickly accept and facilitate aid from Kuala Lumpur.

On offer were a firefighting aircraft, three helicopters and 52 officers and personnel – all primed to cross the border and attack the ‘common enemy’.

Why the apparent hesitation?

With a population of more than 280 million people, Indonesia can very well do the job on its own. Sure, Indonesia can, but that is beside the point.

The haze is a transboundary issue. It has invaded other countries and badly affected people’s health. The wildfires escalated sharply in August, are reported to be Indonesia’s most intense in 11 years, and Jakarta has struggled to control them.

Was national pride behind the hesitation? Prabowo himself has called the fires a life-threatening problem whose impact is felt by neighbours.

‘Big Abang’ (big brother) could have reached out to the band of Asean brothers sooner. The fires might then have been beaten at an early stage.

It need not be an Asean operation only. Japan is already sending three Chinook helicopters and about 300 personnel to support Indonesian crews. Singapore has also offered help. Prabowo could also look to other developed nations that have the expertise and equipment to deal with large-scale fires.

It is like fighting a war: sometimes you need a coalition of international forces to confront the ‘enemy’ on all fronts.

If Indonesia is still struggling to overcome this yearly adversary, what more can Malaysia do?

Time to speak plainly

Anwar has already phoned Prabowo once. On 15 October he said Malaysia had done everything it could, even as a former health minister called for a tougher stance.

Diplomatic niceties must be kept, and pushing too hard may cause offence. But the skies might clear when Asean leaders gather for their annual ritual summit in Manila on 10-15 November.

Asean foreign ministers will meet first. The Philippines, as chair, says haze is on their agenda. According to Mohamad Hasan, he will raise it personally. He notes that Asean’s disaster mechanisms do not cover haze.

Asean leaders will want to hear Prabowo’s ‘report card’ on how his country is tackling this number one foe.

Before then, the haze may well worsen.

The real test is how quickly the promised aid arrives. If it stalls, Malaysia must vent all its pent-up frustration and anger in language hot enough for Indonesia to feel the heat and act promptly.

Soft diplomacy and friendly persuasion are ineffective tools for issues like haze that cut across borders and harm people’s health. Environmental pollution should be treated as seriously as economic damage.

What Asean must deliver

What Malaysia wants to hear at the summit is how Asean can draw up a concrete, long-term plan so that haze will never return to haunt us.

Indonesia must take the lead and crack down hard on those found responsible for this environmental crime, whether farmers or plantation companies.

According to Zahid, Prabowo told him that Indonesia has taken legal action against 95 companies over open burning in Borneo. That must be followed through in court.

If Malaysian companies are also found to be at fault, they should face the severest punishment possible, in Malaysian and Indonesian courts.

Too often, those responsible appear to get away scot-free, or with a slap on the wrist, year after year.

Indonesia should identify those found guilty and publish their names.

Next month, the ball will be in the Asean summit’s court. It is up to member states to resolve a stubborn issue once and for all, even if they must be firm with the largest country in Southeast Asia.

At the end of the high-powered meeting, the communiqué must be short on glowing boasts about strengthening Asean solidarity but long on fighting the enemy on our doorstep.

Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.

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