BPBD Palangka Raya Proposes Additional Personnel 150 Officers To Face Forest And Land Fires

The Palangka Raya City BPBD asked for an additional 150 officers to handle forest and land fires (karhutla) in Central Kalimantan (Kalteng).

He said the addition was needed to maximize efforts to prevent and handle forest and land fires. Moreover, he continued, on Wednesday, August 2, four forest and land fires were located far away.

"The location of the fire that is far away makes efforts to extinguish forest and land fires less than optimal. This condition is because the personnel and equipment used must be divided into four different fire locations," said Head of BPBD Palangka Raya City Emi Abriyani in Palangka Raya, Thursday, August 3, quoted by Antara.

He said, during early January to August 2, 2023, his party recorded 87 cases of forest and land fires. The total burned area reaches more than 48 hectares spread across various areas in Palangka Raya City.

The distribution of forest and land fires was divided into a number of sub-districts, namely Jekan Raya District with 31 cases, Pahandut 14 cases, Sebangau 35 cases, and Rakumpit four cases. Only in the Rakumpit District area, so far there has been no forest and land fires.

"It is strongly suspected that the initial cause of the fire was due to an element of intent from the community. However, to confirm this allegation, the authorities authorized to conduct an investigation," he said.

In an effort to extinguish the forest and land fires, he said, government firefighters and self-circles faced their own challenges. This condition is because the burned area is peatland.

The dry land, due to the lack of rain over the past few days, has also made the land dry and easily ignited and spread the fire.

"We are also aggressively carrying out socialization to the public through various ways to start utilizing social media, direct socialization or by distributing appeal leaflets," he said.

In order to support the anticipation and handling of forest and land fires, the Palangka Raya City BPBD cooperates with a number of related parties who currently involve 300 personnel in an effort to anticipate and deal with forest and land fires.