Talk about mixed signals on an international level.
Despite the Singapore government getting repeatedly rejected when they offered logistical and manpower assistance to put out the haze-causing forest fires, sassy Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has again invited Singapore to come take a look and help out in the efforts to stamp them out.
“Go ahead, we are open. Singapore can come and see for themselves if they want to help. Don’t just talk,” Kalla remarked to reporters in New York on Sunday, Antara News reports.
“We have done all that we can do. Since it has affected other countries, if they want to help, then go ahead,” said the vice-president.
This would count as the second time this month Kalla made an appeal to Singapore to send in troops to Indonesia, where forest fires caused by slash-and-burn farming techniques have been raging across Sumatra and Kalimantan.
However it seems that Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar did not get the memo. The Straits Times reports that Singapore has offered to help battle the inferno in Indonesia five times, but received no warm welcome from her, as she assures that her country can handle it on their own.
Despite his appeals to Singapore for help, Kalla has also been known to be pretty pugnacious when it comes to talking about the haze, which currently blankets over both the city-state and Malaysia. He chided Singaporeans and Malaysians over their complaints about the haze, by repeatedly saying that they’ve never thanked Indonesia over the fresh air they’ve enjoyed for 11 haze-free months. Whatever you say, dude.
Photo: Reuters
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