REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANILA -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla reiterated Indonesia's efforts in addressing the smog disaster in Sumatra and Kalimantan that were affected by a number of neighboring countries. Kalla later confirmed the need for support and cooperation from various countries, including Malaysia, to deal with this problem.
"Ten months of the year, you (neighboring countries) enjoys good air from Indonesia. But when there is a problem, then the problem is also an issue in our region," he said while attending the APEC CEO Summit in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday (18/11) ,
He explained the forest fires was happened because of the El Nino and long drought that struck Indonesia. Kalla also said, the destruction of forest in Indonesia could not be separated from the participation of foreign companies in Indonesia.
Around 1970, he added, various foreign companies came to Indonesia and performed logging that was damaging environmental conditions.
"There are two reasons. In the 1950s Indonesia has many forests, but in in the 1970s many foreign companies cut down the forests that caused damage," he explained.
The Government, he said, has been working hard to deal with fires. However, the wind direction could not be controlled and the smoke also reached to a number of neighboring countries.
"I'm sorry to say we can not control the wind," he continued.
Furthermore, JK conveyed, to restore the functions of forests, the Government has a major project to rehabilitate forests in Indonesia. However, he stressed that this effort needs to be done jointly with other countries.
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