896 Incidents Throughout 2023, Karhutla Losses In Babel Reaches IDR 150 Billion

PANGKALPINANG - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province stated that losses due to forest and land fires (karhutla) in the Babel Islands reached Rp150 billion, for breaking the chain of ecosystems in the area.

"The loss of forest and land fires is already hundreds of billions, because it took decades to restore the land," said Head of BPBD of the Babel Islands Province, Mikron Antariksa, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, November 2.

He said that from January to October 2023, there had been 896 forest and land fires with an area of 1,958.71 hectares spread across Bangka, Central Bangka, West Bangka, South Bangka, Belitung, East Belitung and Pangkalpinang City.

"If calculated materially, the loss due to forest and land fires has reached Rp150 billion, because flora and fauna are extinct, land restoration that takes decades, whether the land in Babylon is not fertile," he said.

According to him, the soil conditions in Babylon have a high level of acidity, so it requires special efforts to fertilize the land in the largest tin ore producing province in Indonesia.

"The 2015 forest and land fires have not yet grown, nor have trees in the area," he said.

He stated that in handling forest and land fires there must be a special law that is applied, because the impact of forest and land fires does not only cause air pollution but breaks the chain of the ecosystem in this forest and land fires area.

"The cost of extinguishing forest and land fires is quite extraordinary and fortunately, Babel does not use water booming in extinguishing forest and land fires, which costs up to Rp. 150 million per hour," he said.