Jakarta (ANTARA) – State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi said the government has engaged in inter-agency coordination to extinguish forest and land fires at various locations.
“A large number of hotspots have been identified in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, while a significant fire is occurring at Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java. We are coordinating with the East Java provincial government, the Forestry Ministry, and other relevant authorities to make every possible effort to extinguish the fires and prevent them from spreading further,” Hadi conveyed on Monday.
A coordination meeting had also been held with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to plan weather modification operations, he added.
While weather modification operations cannot reach every hotspot, the government is continuing to closely monitor the situation, the minister continued.
“We are also coordinating the deployment of equipment including water-bombing gear, helicopters, and aircraft to tackle the fires, in accordance with the instructions and orders issued by President Prabowo Subianto,” Hadi noted.
Earlier, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said the President had directed all government agencies to safeguard the public against forest and land fires during the dry season.
“President Prabowo Subianto’s directive is clear: the government is ready to protect our citizens from the threat of forest and land fires. The state is present to prevent forest fires,” Antoni noted on August 7.
He cautioned that the impact of forest and land fires extends beyond damage to forests, as they can also disrupt people’s lives by triggering acute respiratory infections (ARI), forcing schools to close, hampering economic activities, and even disrupting airport operations.
However, Antoni remains optimistic that Indonesia can contain forest and land fires this year, despite expectations that El Niño will arrive earlier as a result of climate change.
“Hopefully, the number of forest and land fires this year will be far lower than in 2023, with minimal impact on the community,” he said.
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Translator: Fath Putra M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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