Indonesia has finally decided to seek help from its neighbours Malaysia and Singapore and from Russia and Japan to help control the raging forest fires in the southern part of the country that has led to a deadly haze enveloping the region in recent years.
The fires are usually started deliberately by companies producing palm oil and paper to clear forest land, and the haze has spread over to Malaysia and Singapore, even forcing schools to be shut in the region owing to dangerous pollution levels.
Greenpeace has released a drone footage of the forest fires, which it claims can release more carbon dioxide than the entire United Kingdom this year.
The forest fires in Indonesia are likely responsible for an average annual mortality of 110,000 people mainly due to respiratory and cardiac illnesses caused by the smog, as per a study by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Last month, it was reported that more than 2,000 Singaporeans had to seek treatment for haze-related problems in just a week.
While Indonesia had earlier rejected Singapore's intervention in combating the forest fires, it has now decided to accept international help, even from Singapore, AFP reported.
"It was agreed that we will cooperate with a number of our partners in our efforts to suppress the forest fires. We are working with a number of countries including Singapore," Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told AFP.
The other nations that Indonesian President Joko Widodo is reportedly seeking help from are Russia, China, Japan, Australia and Malaysia.
The measures necessary to put out the large blazing fires include water-bombing and using aircraft to induce rain artificially.
