Malaysia offers aircraft, personnel to fight fires as it awaits Indonesia’s approval, says DPM Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has offered a Bombardier CL-415MP aircraft, three helicopters and 50 personnel to help Indonesia put out forest and land fires, but deployment is pending official approval from Indonesia.Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia was ready to mobilise the assets and personnel as soon as approval was received.He said that although the assistance was small compared with Indonesia’s overall firefighting capabilities, it reflected Malaysia’s commitment to helping its neighbouring country.“However small our assistance may be, it is a good gesture to help our closest neighbour. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also contacted Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on this matter.“We are committed to providing this assistance to address the haze problem, which has affected Malaysia, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Indonesia itself,” he told a press conference after officiating at the Road Safety Congress 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 19.Previously, Malaysia, through the National Disaster Management Agency and other security agencies, offered assistance to Indonesia to tackle forest and land fires as well as the haze problem.Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was reported to have approved offers of foreign assistance to address the crisis.In another development, Ahmad Zahid said the government would focus on preparedness for the north-east monsoon and the threat of floods once the haze issue had been resolved.He said the government wanted to ensure that flood victims could be evacuated earlier by optimising the use of early warning systems currently being implemented.“This preparedness effort will continue, and we are grateful that it also involves non-governmental organisations, in addition to government departments and agencies.“Two weeks ago, we held the National Preparedness Month in Ipoh, which went well, and we hope to reduce the impact of flooding this time,” he said. BERNAMA