Head Of BNPB Asks South Kalimantan Provincial Government To Prioritize Preventing Forest And Land Fires

Illustration of BPBD officers extinguishing forest and land fires. (ANTARA DOK)

BANJARBARU - Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Lt. Gen. Suharyanto asked the Provincial Government of South Kalimantan (South Kalimantan Provincial Government) not to issue regional regulations (perda) that provide tolerance for the minimum land burning area.

"Prevention of forest and land fires (karhutla) is more of a priority than bunge," he said while attending the 2023 South Kalimantan Province Forest and Land Fire Emergency Management (Karhutla) coordination meeting (Rakor) in Banjarbaru, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 25.

He said the ban on land clearing by burning was one of the early prevention efforts against the smog disaster caused by forest and land fires.

The case of forest and land fires in South Kalimantan is said to be less worrying because joint officers work together to extinguish each hotspot found.

However, Suharyanto asked all personnel to remain alert to anticipate forest and land fires.

Suharyanto stated that the main thing to watch out for is climate change in August which could cause most parts of Indonesia to be hit by drought, including South Kalimantan.

He said the drought could also be minimized by implementing weather modification technology (TMC) in the South Kalimantan sky to extend the rainy season until Sunday (30/7).

The TMC is to ensure that the availability of water in each corner of the reservoir and waterways is fulfilled to be used to extinguish the hotspots caused by forest and land fires.

Currently, there are four helicopter units assisted by BNPB for Kaslel for the control of forest and land fires, but there are still two more units for the delivery process.

"We will evaluate the handling of forest and land fires in South Kalimantan," said Suharyanto.