BruneiTimes.com - BRUNEI'S Fire and Rescue Services is ready to be deployed to help neighbouring countries combat the haze problem.

Its probation station officer Dayang Alipah said the department is ready to mobilise both firefighting equipment and manpower.

"As always, we are on 24-hour standby where there is always a team ready for an intensive firefighting operation both locally and overseas. We are just a call away.''

"However any operations outside the country would of course require approval from the Home Ministry,'' Dyg Alipah said in a phone interview.

Yesterday, The Brunei Times quoted Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong urging fluid mobilisation of fire fighting squads among Asean countries to combat the smoky haze which is mainly caused by forest fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan, Brunei's next-door neighbour on Borneo island.

He however termed this as a short-term solution, and a long-term measure to fight haze would be by enforcing regulations to inhibit activities leading to the fires.

When asked if the Brunei Fire Department team were trained for such huge operations, Dyg Alipah said the 1998 open fire in Kuala Lurah and along the Seria highway had provided them with the necessary experience.

She said although Brunei's haze condition was not as bad as its neighbouring countries, it did not mean that the fire department was in relaxed mode.

"Although there is no forest fire here, we are monitoring the haze very closely and the nation's 18 fire stations are always ready to contain any situation,'' said Dyg Alipah.

Meanwhile, the haze affecting Brunei continues to clear up thanks to the prolonged period of rain in the morning. Yesterday's visibility was 3 kilometre, according to the Metorological Department.

Although the rain had managed to lessen the severity of the haze hanging over the nation, it would still persist due to wind directions.

Brunei's worst haze experience was in September 1997 when people in the entire Southeast Asian region were choked by uncontrolled burning.

The situation prompted the government to close schools and impose tougher penalties for open burning.