As Forest and Land Firefighters Risk Their Lives, the House of Representatives Urges the State to Add More Helicopters

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Alex Indra Lukman, supports the procurement of helicopters to transport goods and personnel for the Forest Fire Control Center (Dalkarhut).

He believes this support is crucial to expedite the process of extinguishing forest and land fires (karhutla), particularly on the island of Sumatra.

Alex made this statement in response to the emergence of several hotspots in various regions of Riau, based on monitoring by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) on Monday, July 28, 2025, as of 11:00 PM WIB.

"In the case of forest and land fires on the island of Sumatra, the leading sector is Dalkarhut Sumatera, which oversees 10 provinces. We at Commission IV believe that Dalkarhut is worthy of support from helicopters to transport people and goods. This will allow for faster extinguishing," Alex told reporters on Wednesday, July 30.

According to the legislator from the PDI-P faction, extinguishing forest and land fires is no easy task. He emphasized that forest and land fires are very different from extinguishing a campfire.

He commended the Manggala Agni team for their hard work in the field. The team, Alex said, often faces significant challenges in reaching fire locations.

"Our firefighting team often has to use local boats or motorbikes. They even have to walk for kilometers to carry water pumps, hoses, and other heavy equipment," he explained.

"We should all be grateful to the team assigned by the state to carry out the task of extinguishing the fires. This is a tough job that Manggala Agni, together with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the Indonesian National Police (Polri), the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), disaster volunteers, and the community, performs admirably," he continued.

Alex explained that the Dalkarhut (Forest and Land Fire) personnel within the Manggala Agni team consist of 956 personnel, most of whom are honorary employees, while others have been appointed as PPPK (Government Employees with Work Agreements).

He also welcomed the government's efforts beyond ground firefighting. These include weather modification operations (OMC), which involve spraying 21 tons of salt into clouds to induce artificial rain, as well as aerial operations using water bombing methods.

"Around 3.9 million liters of water have also been dropped from the air via water-bombing helicopters," he said.

Alex also expressed his appreciation for the Riau Regional Police's Special Criminal Investigation Directorate (Ditkrimsus) for naming 51 suspects in forest and land fires between January and the end of July 2025.

"The authorities must remember that there are state officials who risk their lives and leave their families to extinguish fires in the wilderness," Alex emphasized.