Indonesia's government is refusing to classify the forest and land fires spreading across the country as a national disaster, saying it can manage the crisis without one, despite residents reporting worsening health effects from the haze, the South China Morning Post reports.
Disaster experts have called for a broader, coordinated response, and critics suggest the government fears a declaration would force it to divert money from other priorities and invite closer scrutiny. Students protesting on Tuesday, the second anniversary of President Prabowo Subianto's administration, demanded a declaration, and civil society and indigenous groups in West Kalimantan made the same demand in a lawsuit last month.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman told reporters a declaration would invite exploitation of the situation and said disaster management was already a national responsibility.
Source: South China Morning Post
