The Defence Ministry will deploy Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) assets to Indonesia as early as today to help put out the forest fires in the country that are causing transboundary haze.
Its minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the assistance, together with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), would be deployed to the forest areas around Palembang and South Sumatra.
"We will send Bombardier CL415MP amphibious aircraft for this mission to Indonesia.
"The Malaysian team with Bombardier aircraft is ready to fly to the country this evening, depending on the coordination with Indonesia," he told reporters after attending the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) Transformation Coordination meeting here, today.
Hishammuddin said a Bombardier aircraft was capable of dropping 6,137 litres of water in 12 seconds when flying at a speed of 130km per hour in the target area determined by the Indonesian authorities.
For now, Hishammuddin said Indonesia had asked for an aircraft which is capable of fighting fires in large areas.
On a separate issue, Hishammuddin, who is also UMNO vice-president, slammed certain parties which are trying to distort the statement by Malay Rulers on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) calling for the investigation to be accelerated.
He said it was a recommendation by the Malay Rulers to the government which all this while has been emphasising on the investigation either at the top leadership level or the Cabinet.
"It (the investigation into 1MDB) is not new...we are investigating from an early stage and any wrongdoing will not be spared," he said.
Meanwhile, in JAKARTA, Indonesia had asked four countries including Malaysia for help to fight forest and plantation fires.
Local online news portals quoted President Joko Widodo as saying today that Indonesia had contacted the Malaysian, Singaporean, Russian and Japanese governments for help to fight fires especially in peatland areas, which are difficult to put out completely.
Indonesia's president, better known as Jokowi, said the kind of assistance needed were aircraft that could carry 12 to 15 tonnes of water.
"There are three aircraft from Singapore, and Russia as well. What we need now are aircraft that can carry 12 to 15 tonnes of water, not like the two to three tonnes we have now," he said.
According to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Department, the air quality in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan capital has hit very hazardous level with Air Pollutant Index (API) readings between 700 and 1,000 from 10am to 2pm.
Bernama
Thu Oct 08 2015
HISHAMMUDDIN: The assistance, together with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), would be deployed to the forest areas around Palembang and South Sumatra.
Piala Asia B-23: Indonesia tekad roboh benteng kebal Uzbekistan
Bintang skuad Garuda Muda, Witan Sulaeman, teruja dengan peluang untuk melakar lebih banyak sejarah ketika membuat persiapan menghadapi aksi separuh akhir PIala Asia B-23 malam ini.
Airbus RACER helikopter terpantas dunia?
Ketika masih dikenali sebagai pesawat eksperimen X3, ia memegang rekod sebagai helikopter terpantas dengan kelajuan mencecah 472 km/j.
AWANI Ringkas: Letupan bom di Thailand | Hadapi dua pertuduhan
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Tekanan politik dalaman punca Israel ‘menggila’ - PM Jordan, Mesir
Kedua-dua perdana menteri negara Asia Barat itu setuju serangan ketenteraan di Rafah hanya akan memburukkan keadaan yang sudah sedia meruncing.
Tingkat kawalan di sempadan tangani kemasukan kambing, lembu murah menjelang Aidiladha
KPKM meminta jabatan dan agensi kerajaan berkaitan kawalan sempadan memperhebat penguatkuasaan serta kawalan di pintu masuk negara bagi menangani kemasukan kambing dan lembu murah menjelang Aidiladha.
Mahkamah tolak permohonan pemilik akaun media sosial mulakan semakan kehakiman
Mahkamah Tinggi menolak permohonan pemilik akaun media sosial untuk mendapatkan kebenaran bagi memulakan prosiding semakan kehakiman terhadap MCMC.
KOM beri tiga atlet kebebasan pilih SUKMA atau kejohanan dunia
KOM memberi kebebasan kepada tiga atlet muda kebangsaan, untuk memilih sama ada mewakili negeri ke SUKMA atau menyahut cabaran negara pada Kejohanan Olahraga Dunia Bawah 20 tahun (B-20) 2024.
Anggota polis didakwa terima rasuah beri tembakau kepada tahanan lokap
Seorang anggota polis berpangkat koperal berhadapan dua pertuduhan menerima rasuah sebagai balasan membawa masuk barang terlarang kepada tahanan lokap.
SPRM sahkan tiada penyelewengan, rasuah dikesan dalam projek NTC setakat ini
SPRM mengesahkan tidak menemui sebarang penyelewengan serta rasuah setakat ini berhubung cadangan projek pembinaan National Training Center (NTC) di Putrajaya yang dianggar bernilai RM25 juta.
WEF: Perdagangan Malaysia, Arab Saudi boleh diperkukuh menerusi kerjasama - Tengku Zafrul
Kerjasama Malaysia-Arab Saudi dengan saling memanfaat kekuatan antara satu sama lain dapat menyokong pertumbuhan perdagangan dan pelaburan.