A Japanese military transport ship has docked on the island of Borneo as part of a disaster relief mission to help fight wildfires in Indonesia that are causing a toxic haze impacting people’s health in other countries.
Japan deployed 300 crew members, landing ship JS Kunisaki and three CH-47 helicopters, which arrived yesterday in Kalimantan.
The mission in Indonesia marked the first known overseas firefighting operation carried out by the Japan Self-Defence Forces.
“To this end, we will learn from the Indonesian military’s operational experience and work in coordination and cooperation with them, striving to ensure that the Indonesian people can lead stable lives as soon as possible,” Col Syunji Nakahara, the commander of the disaster relief activities, said at a port in Mempawah district.
Japan and Indonesia have been also increasingly strengthening their military cooperation ties, with the two sides discussing the Japanese sale of its used destroyers.
Indonesia has been plagued by forest fires for decades, but an intensifying El Nino pattern this year and a prolonged dry season worsened the impact of the fires.
Toxic haze and smoke have caused a health crisis in neighbouring countries.
The smoke has drifted as far as the Philippines, more than 800km away, and breached Malaysia’s emergency-level threshold for air pollution.
The air pollution has also affected several areas on the island of Sumatra, forcing schools to suspend learning activities at school.
The toxic haze has affected more than 1.4 million students across the country.
Japan’s firefighting efforts will support Indonesian authorities in reaching areas that are difficult for ground teams to access.
Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry recorded more than 202,000ha of burned land between January and July, almost three times Singapore’s size. — AP
