SINGAPORE — Haze assistance by Singapore to Indonesia has been delayed after receiving clearance from the Indonesian authorities “due to deteriorating visibility” in Palembang, said the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

In a Facebook post tonight (Oct 9), MINDEF said that the deployment has been rescheduled to tomorrow instead.

A Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said yesterday that Singapore has offered a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations and a Chinook helicopter with a 5,000-litre heli-bucket under-slung for aerial firefighting and waterbombing efforts. A firefighting assistance team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force will be deployed. Up to two C-130 aircraft are also on standby. In addition, Singapore also offered to provide high-resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates.

Indonesia yesterday asked for help from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and Japan to put out forest fires that have caused choking smoke to drift across South-east Asia — the first time such a large-scale international operation will take place in the region to combat the yearly problem.