Indonesia prioritizes foreign aid for firefighting technology: BNPB

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2 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) –

The international support initiative for tackling forest and land fires in Indonesia will focus on procuring advanced equipment and technology that are currently unavailable in the country, as informed by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

The Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, Berton Panjaitan, on Thursday (October 22) conveyed the government’s appreciation for offers of assistance from several friendly countries, such as Japan and Singapore.

“The government is currently identifying the types of assistance needed to ensure that international support effectively strengthens forest and land fire management operations,” he said.

According to him, this policy is in line with ongoing intensive mitigation efforts in six priority provinces, with details of the burned areas covering South Sumatra (5,194 hectares), Jambi (2,025 hectares), Central Kalimantan (7,938 hectares), South Kalimantan (1,974 hectares), West Kalimantan (1,290 hectares), and Riau (reportedly zero fires).

Besides priority areas, Panjaitan said firefighting efforts have been conducted in other areas, including East Kalimantan and the Indonesian Capital City (IKN) area, Way Kambas National Park, Karanganyar District, Mount Sumbing, and Papua.

He explained that efforts in Karanganyar District, Central Java, cover an area of 490 hectares, facing significant challenges, including hotspots reaching Post 2 in Cemoro Kandang, dense haze, erratic winds, and steep mountain slopes.

Meanwhile, a joint team continues to extinguish fires across 316 hectares in the Mount Sumbing area.

In East Kalimantan, including the IKN area, ground and aerial firefighting operations have covered 37 hectares. Fires on five hectares in the IKN area, previously tackled through both ground and aerial efforts, have been fully extinguished.

“Approximately 70,000 joint personnel have been deployed to handle these forest and land fires, complete with air fleets and ground watering equipment,” Panjaitan stated.