Months of raging fires have caused respiratory illnesses among hundreds of thousands in the worst-hit provinces, while transboundary haze has worsened air quality up to Malaysia and Singapore. (EPA Images pic)JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities said on Thursday they would consider offers of foreign assistance to tackle the country's biggest forest fires in over a decade after President Prabowo Subianto named a new disaster management leader.
The Southeast Asian nation is facing intense criticism as it struggles to control its most intense wildfires since 2015 after an El Niño-driven drought turned forests and land highly flammable.
The fires have been raging for months and hundreds of thousands of people have contracted respiratory illnesses in the worst-hit provinces, while the transboundary haze has also hampered air quality in neighbouring countries, forcing school closures in Malaysia and East Timor.
