RI, US MILY HOLD JOINT FOREST-FIRE-FIGHTING EXERCISE

Pekanbaru, Indonesia, July 27 (ANTARA) - Bukit Barisan Military Command chief Maj Gen Burhanuddin Amin here Monday officially opened a 4-day forest-fire fighting exercise by elements of the Indonesian military and the United States Pacific Command (US Pascom).

Also participating in the exercise were observers from Thailand and Singapore.

In remarks on the occasion, Amin said during the first two days of the joint exercise, the participants would attend a workshop on ways to fight forest fires, and during the last two days, conduct a forest fire simulation,
Indonesia was represented in the exercise by 350 people including employees of 33 companies and related institutions in Riau province, and the US by 13 US Pascom personnel.

The the fire-fighting simulation would be held in the Pasir Putih area in Kampar district, Riau province and witnessed also by by Maj Gen Patrick Wilson of US Pacom.

Amin said the joint exercise was conducted in Riau because the province was one of the regions in Indonesia most often hit by land and forest fires.

Meanwhile, Riau deputy Governor Mambang Mit said the joint exercise between TNI and US Pascom was expected to produce the best possible solution to the land and forest fires in the province.***