6,800 Personnel Are Alerted To Prevent Forest And Land Fires In Riau

PEKANBARU - The Riau Provincial Government has alerted 6,800 TNI/Polri personnel to prevent and deal with forest and land fires (karhutla), following the stipulation of an emergency status for forest and land fires from March 21 to November 30, 2022.

"We have prepared 6,800 personnel from the TNI/Polri. The Task Force will also be strengthened with fire-care communities (MPA) and a task force from companies, especially now that Riau is hit by a dry season and a little rain," Riau Governor Syamsuar said as quoted by Antara, Thursday. , March 31.

He said, although Riau is also experiencing rain, however, in anticipation of forest and land fires, a standby rally was held as part of starting alert efforts and of course it must be followed by the formation of Provincial, Regency and City Task Forces.

Riau Governor Syamsuar hopes that the whole community will not burn forests and land, so the regent, mayor, police chief and dandim continue to intensify socialization to the community as well as counseling so that people do not burn land.

"For people who can't afford it, assistance will be given, among others, we will prepare heavy equipment and agricultural equipment to process agriculture which can be requested through the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) and the local Public Works Agency. Hopefully we can control forest and land fires properly," he said.

Meanwhile, participants who took part in the fire and forest fire preparedness meeting, namely the PT RAPP Fire Fighter team, also sent a number of personnel complete with equipment.

SHR Manager of RAPP, Wijatmoko said the company has a high commitment to support the government in efforts to prevent and control forest and land fires. For prevention, the Fire Free Village program has been implemented since 2015 and has partnered with 39 villages in Riau

Meanwhile, for countermeasures, 9 million US dollars was invested in extinguishing equipment and equipment. Currently, APRIL has 2,275 firefighting teams consisting of 1,155 core teams, 640 reserve teams, and 480 MPA.

"We also have 39 monitoring towers and CCTV in the concession area that monitors for 24 hours at the Fire Command Center in Pangkalan Kerinci, besides that the team also patrols regularly by land, air and water," said Wijat, accompanied by the Coordinator. Fire Fighter RAPP, Solomon.