South Kalimantan Police Chief Orders Land Burners To Be Sentenced To Jera

JAKARTA - South Kalimantan (Kalsel) Police Chief Inspector General Rosyanto Yudha Hermawan issued an announcement to criminalize land burners strictly in accordance with applicable legal regulations.

"I have ordered members not to hesitate to enforce the law in every case of forest and land fires without exception," he said, leading the 2025 forest and land fires preparedness meeting in the jurisdiction of the South Kalimantan Police in the yard of the RTMC Ditlantas building of the South Kalimantan Police in Banjarbaru, Monday, May 26, confiscated by Antara.

Kapolda mengatakan tindakan refresif diharapkan menimbulkan efek jera bagi pelaku pengis lahan dan pihak lainnya yang mencoba melakukan hal serupa.

"The impact caused by forest and land fires is not only natural damage but also a health disaster for humans from smog to economic losses, of course the legal entanglement must be appropriate for the perpetrators," said Yudha.

On the other hand, Yudha emphasized that prevention efforts will still be prioritized by education and socialization to communities including farmer groups and plantation companies.

Every small fire that appears must be extinguished together so that it does not get bigger.

The handling of the fire extinguishing has also been prepared by the South Kalimantan Police together with the TNI and the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD).

"That's why today we have an apple to find out the extent of the readiness of the personnel and equipment they have," he said.

The South Kalimantan Regional Police also operates advanced unmanned aircraft (UAVs) or "drones" to monitor forest and land fires, which begins with efforts to detect hotspots at one location and then quickly and precisely check.

The drone in the form of a miniature aircraft with a length of about one meter and a wingspan of two meters is operated by the Sabhara Directorate which can fly with a distance of up to 50 kilometers.

With all the readiness of personnel and supporting equipment, the Kapolda hopes that the handling of forest and land fires this year can be more optimal so that smog disasters can be prevented.

Based on the BMKG report submitted by the Kapolda, from January to May 25, 2025, it was detected that there were 28 low hotspots, 529 medium-category hotspots and 1 large category hotspot.