Indonesia steps up wildfire control in future capital Nusantara

indonesianupdates.com_admin

3 hours ago

OIKN civil servants take turns manning posts at various locations to support patrols and monitoring,

North Penajam Paser (ANTARA) – Indonesia is intensifying efforts to prevent and suppress wildfires in its future capital city, Nusantara, which is under development in North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara districts, East Kalimantan, through the Multi-Stakeholder Rapid Response Unit.

The unit helps coordinate wildfire control measures involving the Nusantara Capital Authority (OIKN), the Forestry Ministry, the East Kalimantan provincial government, the North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara district governments, village administrations, corporations, environmental organizations, forest rangers, and volunteers.

“Controlling wildfires is a collaborative endeavor that demands the preparedness of all elements,” OIKN Head Basuki Hadimuljono said in Sepaku, North Penajam Paser, on Saturday.

He underscored the cross-sector unit as a means of supporting Nusantara’s vision of becoming a safe and sustainable forest city.

Under the collaborative framework, he added, the stakeholders work hand in hand to extinguish fires, establish barriers to prevent fire from spreading, and wet and cool affected areas to prevent flare-ups.

“OIKN civil servants take turns manning posts at various locations to support patrols and monitoring,” said the former public works and public housing minister.

In addition to providing personnel, the authority is supplying health supplements to field personnel to help them stay fit and carry out wildfire control measures as effectively as possible.

Basuki further noted that wildfire control in Nusantara is being carried out across seven clusters to ensure a rapid response, taking into account the location of posts, the availability of equipment, manpower levels, and accessibility.

Each cluster is coordinated by representatives of OIKN, local administrations, or companies, he added.

The OIKN chief elaborated that all teams in each cluster receive daily updates on hotspot developments and water-source locations so they can carry out containment efforts as effectively as possible.