Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni said the government is relying on ground operations to handle forest and land fires, particularly on peatlands like in West Kalimantan.
In a statement received here on Saturday, Juli Antoni noted ground operations are more effective at tackling fires on the front lines than relying solely on aerial firefighting.
“Our ground personnel are our main line of defense while we wait for weather modification operations or natural rain once the rainy season comes,” he said.
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He noted West Kalimantan shows potential for rain clouds between September 4 to 8, which authorities will optimise all efforts for weather modification.
Antoni emphasised any viable seed cloud will be utilised, even over areas not yet affected by fires, to support rewetting and maintain groundwater levels.
Specifically, in West Kalimantan, he has requested team deployment to be planned with detailed mapping of personnel and equipment needs, based on hotspot distribution and local requirements.
He cited Ketapang and Kubu Raya districts as examples where requirements must be mapped based on hotspot counts so resources can be shifted to areas in need.
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Meanwhile, Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Suharyanto said forest and land fire response efforts in West Kalimantan remain ongoing through both ground and aerial operations.
Response data shows that out of an estimated 802.17 hectares of burned area, the Ground Task Force has successfully extinguished 429.90 hectares.
According to Suharyanto, peatland conditions remain one of the primary challenges in extinguishing the fires.
He explained water-bombing operations are not always effective in putting out peatland fires, thereby making ground forces the main backbone of on-the-ground response efforts.
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Translator: Arnidhya Nur, Raka Adji
Editor: Fransiska Ninditya
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