Central Kalimantan Prepares IDR 250 Billion Budget For Handling Natural Disasters

Illustration of the impact of the earthquake in Indonesia. (Between)

KALTENG - The Provincial Government of Central Kalimantan (Kalteng) has provided a 2022 Unexpected Cost (BTT) budget of up to IDR 250 billion.

The amount of the budget is for the management of forest and land fires (karhutla), as well as other disasters that may occur in Central Kalimantan.

"This budget of approximately IDR 250 billion is in the form of Unexpected Expenditures (BTT)," said Central Kalimantan Deputy Governor Edy Pratowo in Palangka Raya, Wednesday, April 13.

However, he acknowledged that Central Kalimantan was quite focused on anticipating both the forest fires and the smoke generated.

Not long ago, his party attended a coordination meeting with the central government related to drought preparedness as well as anticipation of forest and land fires. Central Kalimantan is one of the six provinces prioritized in this activity.

"We had a meeting with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and others," he explained, quoting Antara.

Edy emphasized the readiness of Central Kalimantan to anticipate the occurrence of forest and land fires, starting from the ranks of relevant agencies at the provincial and district, and city levels.

He explained that apart from the budget available for BTT, there was also around IDR 53 billion that could be used for handling forest and land fires, in the form of the Special Allocation Fund for Reforestation Funds (DAK-DR).

"In addition to budget readiness, Central Kalimantan has also prepared infrastructure, personnel, and other supporting tools to anticipate and deal with disasters," he said.

He further explained that the current condition of Central Kalimantan is still in a safe condition, namely that several hot spots and fire incidents were encountered, but the district was still able to overcome it.

"We are also still seeing the results of the report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) until now it is still raining," he said.