South Kalimantan Ready To Overcome Drought And Forestry

BANJARMASIN - The Provincial Government of South Kalimantan is ready to tackle drought and forest and land fires (karhutla) in its area during the dry season.

At the forest and land fires mitigation and drought meeting that took place in Banjarbaru, Saturday, South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor asked all regional work units to actively participate in the implementation of mitigation and overcoming the impact of forest and land fires and drought.

He also asked regents and mayors in the South Kalimantan region to increase efforts to prevent forest and land fires in their respective areas.

"In addition to wetting the land, we also need to clean the bush which has the potential to become a source of fire," he said.

He added that local governments also need to distribute masks to residents in areas affected by the smog caused by forest and land fires.

In addition, the Governor conveyed the importance of ensuring that the residents' clean water needs were met during the dry season.

Meanwhile, the Head of the South Kalimantan Provincial Health Office, Diauddin, said that district and city governments had been asked to increase their vigilance to anticipate the impact of forest and land smoke on the health of residents.

"We have made a circular to the regional heads of districts and cities to be aware of the (risk) of increasing ISPA (upper respiratory tract infection)," he said.