President orders priority firefighting in Tanjung Puting : Minister

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2 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) –

President Prabowo Subianto ordered firefighting efforts to prioritize Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, followed by other areas in the province and South Sumatra affected by forest and land fires.

In a meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday, the fire in Tanjung Puting National Park received special attention from the president, considering the national park serves as the largest conservation and rehabilitation center for orangutans in the world.

“Tanjung Puting and the area around it must be protected as a home for animals,” Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman said after attending the meeting.

He explained that firefighting efforts are currently conducted mainly on the ground, as thick smoke in some areas has made flying conditions unsafe for aircraft.

“According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), helicopter operations have been deployed, but firefighting efforts are primarily conducted on the ground because dense smoke hampers aerial operations,” the minister explained.

Dudung added that all parties, including the Indonesian military, national police, and volunteers, are currently involved in firefighting efforts. Joint teams can cover up to 692 hectares per day.

He also assured that personnel deployed to fight forest and land fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra would be rotated to prevent excessive fatigue.

Forest and land fire extinguishing in Kalimantan and Sumatra is currently being carried out by a joint team of land and air task forces consisting of personnel from the fire department, the military, the national police, the Manggala Agni, and forest rangers from the Ministry of Forestry.

Followed by the weather modification operations team, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the BNPB, regional forestry services, volunteers, and the community.

In addition to wild orangutans, Tanjung Puting National Park is also home to other wildlife such as proboscis monkeys, gibbons, sun bears, saltwater crocodiles, false gharials, Siamese crocodiles, and hundreds of bird species, including hornbills and woolly-necked storks.