Jakarta. Indonesia said Thursday that it had received no formal complaints from Southeast Asian neighbors despite the transboundary pollution choking the region for months.

Fires across Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra have led to massive haze that has blanketed parts of Malaysia, Singapore, and even the Philippines. Air quality has turned unhealthy. Some students had to switch to online learning. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yvonne Mewengkang revealed that none of the Southeast Asian countries had filed complaints despite the persistent haze.

“We have not received any letter of protest from countries in the region or our neighbors. There is no such thing to this day," Yvonne told the press. 

Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela, another ministerial spokesperson, said that ASEAN members would issue a daily haze report, including mapping where the smoke will move, for anticipatory measures. Joint coordination is also underway. ASEAN has issued a “level 3” or “high risk of severe transboundary haze” alert.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said to have discussed the forest fires with President Prabowo Subianto on the margins of India’s BRICS gathering over the weekend. The Malaysian embassy recently said that Indonesia had approved working together on “cloud seeding”, a weather modification meant to increase rain probability. 

ASEAN also has a decades-old haze agreement, where members agree to settle any problem “amicably by consultation or negotiation”.

In a recent handpicked media interview session, Prabowo said that Indonesia was open to working with foreign nations, citing Japanese Chinook helicopters’ involvement in the firefighting operations.

“This can be very effective for waterbombing. China and other countries have also offered [assistance]. We have requested Russia, as we need large planes to land on water to scoop water to drop [them on the fires],” Prabowo said.

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