Prabowo demands firms comply with wildfire safety rules

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has urged plantation and forestry companies to strictly enforce fire prevention rules on their concessions, warning non-compliant firms that statutory mandates for firefighting equipment and personnel will be enforced.

Speaking during a discussion on peatland management with academics at the State Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo stressed that existing laws leave companies no excuse for neglecting their obligations to prevent and extinguish fires.

“Some companies comply, others do not. We have to bring them into line,” Prabowo said in a video released on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.

Under current regulations, concession holders must install watchtowers and water retention basins at specified intervals across their land, as well as maintain trained, on-site response units.

Prabowo made a clear distinction between corporate obligations and government support for local farmers, noting that rural communities will receive state assistance—including land preparation infrastructure and water pumps—to discourage slash-and-burn clearing practices.

“We want our people to prosper; we would never want to harm them,” Prabowo added.

“However, corporations are a different matter. For companies, clear regulations and obligations are already in place.”

The warning comes as Indonesia steps up mitigation efforts in fire-prone hot spots, focusing heavily on six priority provinces across Sumatra and Kalimantan: Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra, and Jambi.

Driven by severe El Niño-induced drought and widespread slash-and-burn agricultural clearing, forest and peatland fires swept across Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua, scorching hundreds of thousands of hectares.

The resulting hazardous haze triggered widespread respiratory illnesses, school closures, and regional air pollution, prompting calls for stricter regulatory enforcement against corporate land clearers.