Deal.com.sg gears up to help haze-fighting efforts

• Users can donate to help fire prevention and firefighting efforts in Indonesia
• Coalition of organisations working with local communities to protect areas

AS South-East Asian countries once again face the haze, Singapore-based online shopping platform Deal.com.sg said it would provide a platform for its customers in Singapore and Malaysia to make a donation in support of the fight against haze.
 
The donations can be made via its Singapore and Malaysia portals between Aug 4 and 15, Deal.com.sg, a subsidiary of the iBuy Group, said in a statement.
 
The funds raised will go towards helping organisations that are currently involved in fire prevention and firefighting efforts in Indonesia such as the Centre for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland and the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project in the Sabangau area.
 
Other such organisations include Friends of the National Parks Foundation in Tanjung Puting, International Animal Rescue (IAR) in the Ketapang and Pontianak areas, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari -- Orangutan Information Centre.
 
Finally, there is Alam Sehat Lestari, a non-profit organisation that looks into environmental and human health in rural Indonesia.
 
This coalition of organisations is being coordinated by the New York-based Orangutan Outreach.
 
“The haze is a result of a much larger problem – slash and burn tactics adopted by individual landowners and companies, and the burning of agricultural waste,” said iBuy chief executive officer and cofounder Patrick Linden.
 
“Fortunately, there is a coalition of organisations on the frontline that is working together with local communities to protect large remote areas in Borneo and Sumatra from devastating forest fires by patrolling forest and peat swamps there, that will burn, if left unattended.
 
"We will engage our extensive customer base to garner support to fund their meaningful efforts to nip the haze problem at the root, by preventing the burning from starting in the first place, as well as to fight the fires,” he added.
 
Deal.com.sg customers can choose to either donate S$10 or S$20 towards different causes, such as supporting the firefighting patrols, funding firefighting training and equipment, teaching fire safety in villages and schools, or helping in the rescue and prevention of poaching of animals.
 
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