Russian aircraft to help combat Indonesia’s haze fire

Malaysian Bombardier and Australian Hercules aircraft, that had been providing Indonesia with assistance in extinguishing fires, have returned to their countries, the BNPB said earlier on Wednesday. Haze across much of Southeast Asia mostly comes from forest fires on Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra, many of which are deliberately lit to clear land for plantations. Despite the thick haze, construction resumes in front of Malaysia’s landmark buildings, Kuala Lumpur Tower, centre left, & Petronas Twin Towers, center right, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wed., October 21, 2015.

The shock assessment came as Jakarta said the number of blazes was increasing across the archipelago despite a multinational fire-fighting effort, and announced plans to deploy more water-bombing aircraft.

For almost two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming, instigated by palm oil and paper pulp corporations, have suffocated vast expanses of the region with smog, causing respiratory illnesses to soar, schools to close, and scores of flights and a few global events to be cancelled.

A man throws water from a bucket as he tries to extinguish fires near his house in the Ogan Ilir district of South Sumatra, Indonesia.

“To increase the strength, Indonesia invites two units of amphibian Beriev Be-200 aircraft along with 20 crew members. They will arrive in Palembang of South Sumatra on Wednesday”, Sutopo told Xinhua via phone.

“Our prediction is that rain will start in November, though in the scale is limited because of El Nino”, said Sutopo Nugroho, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency.

The World Resources Institute said in a recent report that since early September carbon emissions from the fires had exceeded average United States daily output on 26 out of 44 days.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya told AP that a few 4.2 million acres of forests and plantation land have been razed by fires in Sumatra and Borneo.