BPBD Sets South Hulu Sungai In South Kalimantan To Prepare For Karhutla Disaster

Illustration of BPBD officers extinguishing forest and land fires. (Antaranews)

SOUTH KALIMANTAN - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Hulu Sungai Selatan (HSS) has set a standby status for forest and land fires (karhutla) in the South Kalimantan (Kalsel) region.

Head of BPBD HSS Kusairi said his party took various preparatory steps to anticipate forest and land fires.

"To anticipate forest and land fires, our first step from BPBD in May has set a disaster alert status for forest and land fires, drought and food production," he said at Kandangan, HSS, Thursday, May 4, as reported by Antara.

He explained that this determination was also a follow-up to the results of a coordination meeting with the Provincial Government of South Kalimantan and district and city governments related to preparedness for handling forest and land fires disasters.

Another step, he continued, was to reactivate the Karangurtla disaster alert post at the district, sub-district, to village levels, to coordinate with relevant regional apparatus organizations (OPD), including intensifying socialization through social media and the BPBD HSS website.

This socialization is to inform the public that based on the BMKG forecast there will be a fairly extreme drought in 2023 which is different from the 2021 dry season which is in the form of a wet dry season.

"Based on the information we received from the BMKG forecast, the 2023 dry season is normal or more towards drought," said Kusairi.

His party also carried out a disaster preparedness ceremony at the district level, as a form of raising and synergy in anticipation and tackling forest and land fires disasters with all partners.

He also said it was related to the criminal act of forest and land fires in 2022 which did not exist because it was based on a search in the burned land field in the form of swamps that were not owned and not agricultural land.

"Our comparison for forest and land fires in 2022 and 2021, in 2022 there will be a decrease in the level of hotspots (hotspots) in HSS, in addition to the dryness last year, it was wet dry," he said.

He revealed that the handling of forest and land fires in 2022 can also be carried out more intensively because of the air task force, so that it can reach several areas that are difficult to access, both from land and river routes.

He acknowledged the challenge of anticipating forest and land fires in HSS because the no-man's swampland was widespread from the Daha area in three sub-districts then to Kalumpang District to the border with Margasari District, Tapin.

"But thank God, the provincial BPBD, which is supported by the air task force, is very helpful for handling forest and land fires more quickly," said Kusairi.