Ministry urges regions to bolster forest, land fire preparednes

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Ribka Haluk has urged regional governments to enhance their preparedness to face forest and land fires, ensuring that public protection and services continue uninterrupted.

“Mitigation measures must always be in place. Regional budgets (APBD) and regional government work plans (RKPD) must always allocate funds for unexpected expenditures (BTT),” she said in a statement.

Ribka made the statement while chairing a coordination meeting on forest and land fire preparedness and management for the Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua regions at the Ministry of Home Affairs headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to her, preparedness needs to be supported by regulations, funding, institutions, human resources, facilities and infrastructure, as well as community involvement. Therefore, prevention efforts must be prepared early and integrated into regional development planning.

She explained that the division of tasks between the central and regional governments in managing forest and land fires is regulated under Presidential Instruction No. 3/2020.

Under the framework, the Ministry of Home Affairs is tasked with supervising and guiding regional leaders’ policies and actions, including ensuring adequate budget allocations for forest and land fire control.

Ribka affirmed that her ministry has issued several regulations to serve as instruments for regional governments to bolster their fire preparedness, including Minister of Home Affairs Regulation No. 101/2018 and Minister of Home Affairs Regulation No. 114/2018.

These regulations govern, among other things, the minimum service standards for disaster and fire management affairs.

Guidelines have also been issued for formulating RKPD and APBD, village financial management, fire department organizational structure, and the training of volunteer firefighters.

In addition, the ministry has issued Minister of Home Affairs Instruction No. 1/2026 to follow up on presidential directives regarding forest fire control and local government preparedness.

According to her, several regional governments already have legal frameworks for forest and land fire control and management, including Bali through Governor Regulation No. 14/2016.

Ribka urged those without regulations to draft them promptly, citing a clear legal basis as essential to ground local governments in prevention, firefighting, and emergency response efforts, as well as in allocating APBD.

In addition to securing regulatory and budgetary readiness, the deputy minister called on regional leaders to step up direct prevention efforts on the ground.

These efforts include continuous and widespread public education and outreach, empowering community volunteers for early detection and firefighting, and raising awareness to stop land clearing through burning.