Riau Provincial Government Asks For Helicopter Assistance To Prevent Forestry

Karhutla in Riau Provincial Government. (Between)

RIAU - The Riau Provincial Government (Pemprov) has submitted a request for helicopter assistance to the central government to prevent forest and land fires (karhutla) in 2023.

The Head of the Riau Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), M Edy Afrizal, said the application was addressed to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK).

"Currently we are preparing a letter requesting helicopter assistance as many as 10 units, consisting of 4 patrol helicopters and 6 water bombing helicopters, to support air operations to prevent and handle Riau 2023 Karhutla," said M Edy in Pekanbaru, Riau, Thursday, February 16, confiscated by Antara.

According to him, without the help of a helicopter, his party would not be able to move to prevent forest and land fires, because when a hot spot appears, the air task force immediately patrols the point to ascertain if it is just a hot spot or hotspot.

After that, he continued, it will be analyzed whether water bombing is necessary or if it can be extinguished by ground task force personnel.

He explained that the helicopter assistance application was made after Riau Province officially declared an emergency alert status for forest and land fires from February 13 to November 30, 2023, which was determined based on the Decree (SK) of the Governor of Riau Number: Kpts.191/II/2023 concerning the Determination of the Emergency Alert Status of the Karhutla Disaster in Riau.

In addition, the Riau Provincial Government mapped 134 fire-prone sub-districts to anticipate forest and land fires in line with the dry season, including Kampar Regency (13 sub-districts), Inhil Regency (19 sub-districts), Rohil Regency (18 sub-districts), Kuansing Regency (14 sub-districts), Inhu Regency (12 sub-districts), Siak Regency (12 sub-districts), and Pelalawan Regency (12 sub-districts).

Then in Pekanbaru City (4 sub-districts), Dumai City (4 sub-districts), Rokan Hulu (6 sub-districts), Meranti Islands (9 sub-districts), and Bengkalis (11 sub-districts).

Based on data from the Riau BPBD from January 1 to February 11, 2023, there are 15 hotspot coordinates spread across districts/cities, namely in Inhil (5 points), Siak (4 points), Kampar (2 points), Dumai (1 point), Rohul (1 point), Inhu (1 point), and Pelalawan (1 hotspot).

As an effort to anticipate, 525 bore wells were also built, 9,672 canal barriers, 1,546 reservoirs, 817 fire pumps, 1,499 Roll fire hoses were built.

However, the existence of the equipment also needs to be re-checked and coordinated with the regions if there is a lack of need.