BNPB Proposes The Establishment Of A Karhutla Control Task Force In Java

Illustrations - forest and land fires on Mount Arjuno. The fire burned forests and land (karhutla) in the Mount Arjuno area was seen in Prigen, Pasuruan, East Java, Tuesday (5/9/2023). (ANTARA PHOTO/Umarul Faruq/nym)

Head of the Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center of the National Disaster Management Agency Abdul Muhari stated the need to form a task force (Satgas) for forest and land fires (karhutla) for a number of provinces in Java.

Because judging from the trend of forest and land fires events in 2019 and 2023 where the increase in the El Nino phenomenon, the highest occurred in Java.

Abdul in Disaster Briefing was followed online in Jakarta, Monday, saying that the government has been paying attention to karhutla prevention in 6 provinces such as Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.

However, seeing the current phenomenon, Riau and Jambi still have relatively rain.

"But maybe what we need to learn here is that provinces in Java also need to form a forest and land fires control task force," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, September 11.

East Java Province contributed the highest forest and land fires incident, followed by Central Java and West Java. Historically, East Java and Central Java had to get more attention because of the large number of grass and national parks where there was a savanna field.

According to Abdul, although the area is not the majority of peatlands, the impact of the fire can be very massive and escalative. So that the Head of BNPB Lt. Gen. Suharyanto emphasized that the land task force can be placed in vulnerable locations such as national parks, as well as areas where the savanna area is quite dominant.

For example, fires in the Bromo area, East Java, spread very widely, and within hours, tens of hectares had been burned. This is different if a fire occurs in peatlands where fires can still be prevented from being blocked by water ditches.

The air task force has deployed water bombing helicopters in an effort to extinguish the fire on Mount Bromo. Abdul suggested that every point of checking climbing areas or tourism, there must be a forest and land fire control task force.