Forest Fires Are Often Caused By Ridiculous Behavior And Human Ignorance

Joint personnel from the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Center (BB TNBTS) are trying to extinguish the fire in the savanna area, Malang Regency, East Java, Wednesday (30/8/2023). (Between/BB TNBTS)/

JAKARTA - It has been almost a week since forest and land fires have occurred in the Mount Bromo area, but until now there have been no signs of improving conditions. What happened was that the fire actually spread and caused damage in various aspects.

The cause of the fire could be said to be ridiculous. This is because a couple used flares during their pre-wedding photo session on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at around 11.30 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB). One of the five flares they used as part of the photo prop exploded when lit, sending out sparks.

In a widely circulated video, it is alleged that there were six visitors carrying out a pre-wedding session. They were seen ignoring it, even when the fire had engulfed the land at the location where the photo shoot was taking place, they appeared calm and made no effort to extinguish it.

Due to the hot weather and the dry conditions of the savanna, the fire quickly spread everywhere. The latest news says that 50 hectares of savanna on Teletubbies Hill in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area caught fire due to the actions of irresponsible visitors. The area is permanently closed and local residents who live from tourism are disadvantaged.

Shutting Down People's Livelihoods

I don't know what the bride and groom are feeling. As the happy day approached, a pre-wedding photo session that was supposed to be a fun moment turned into a disaster.

This terrible incident occurred on Wednesday, September 6. In fact, at that time the Bromo tourist area had just opened the day after the forest and land fires (Karhutla) in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) which had been going on since the end of August were successfully extinguished.

Now, fires in this area have resulted in the total closure of tourist routes in the Mount Bromo area. If this is the case, the ones who will suffer the most are the local people who depend on the tourism sector on Mount Bromo for their livelihood.

Hundreds of jeep vehicles that usually transport visiting tourists had to stop their activities and suffered losses.

"Since the closure of tourist access to the savanna, desert and Mount Bromo caldera was implemented, tourism businesses, especially jeeps, have experienced losses totaling hundreds of millions of rupiah. All vehicles are currently forced to be parked in the garage," said one Jeep business owner, Muhammad Muksin, in Malang, Tuesday, September 12.

Under normal conditions, businesses delivering tourists to Mount Bromo can pocket income of IDR 800 thousand per departure. Not to mention the income from open trip packages which reaches millions of rupiah in one departure.

Economic losses can also be seen from the entrance ticket to TBTS. Head of the Administration Section of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Center (BB TBTS) Septi Eka Wardhani provided the latest information regarding the number of visits before the closure.

Hundreds of jeeps used to transport tourists to the Mount Bromo area have stopped their activities. (Unsplash/Waranont Joe)

"During the period 1 September to September 6, 2023, total visits to the Mount Bromo Natural Tourism area reached 5,658 tourists. "Of this number, 5,233 are domestic tourists or Indonesian citizens, while the other 425 are foreign tourists," said Septi Eka.

On weekdays, TBTS entry tickets are charged IDR 19,000 for domestic tourists and IDR 210,000 for foreign tourists. Referring to the number of tourist arrivals in the period 1 to 6 September, the income deposited by the management of the TBTS Center reached IDR 171,877,000.

This means that the daily income from visiting tickets reaches more than IDR 28 million. With the closure for six days until September 12, the potential loss experienced by the management is estimated at more than IDR 168 million.

Apart from the economic impact, the fire on Mount Bromo also caused at least six villages in Sukapura District, Probolinggo, East Java, to experience a clean water crisis. This happened because the water sources of Mount Wantangan and Mount Bromo Savana Hill were damaged due to forest fires in the Mount Bromo area, resulting in clean water channels being cut off to six villages in Sukapura District.

"This clean water comes from several spring sources. One of them comes from Mount Wantangan and also the Savana Hill of Mount Bromo. Due to this fire, pipes made of PVC at these two sources were damaged," said the Head of Jetak Village, Ngantoro.

Not only these two problems, forest fires in the Mount Bromo area also have serious environmental impacts. Forest and land fires can cause environmental damage, including the disappearance of natural habitats for local flora and fauna.

Smoke from fires can also worsen air quality, especially in summer like this. It is predicted that it will take quite a long time to restore the Mount Bromo area which was damaged by human-caused fires.

Waiting for Other Suspects

After investigating six visitors, the police finally named the Wedding Organizer (WO) manager, AWEW (42), as a suspect. Probolinggo Police Chief Assistant Commissioner of Police (AKBP) Wisnu Wardana revealed the role of the suspect who was the WO manager.

"Firstly, he is the person in charge of the wedding organizer, secondly, he is also the person in charge regarding permits to enter the Mount Bromo crater conservation area," said Vishnu.

Even though one person has been named a suspect, many parties believe that the police's steps were not appropriate. This refers to the bride and groom holding flares during a photo shoot. Many parties consider both of them worthy of being named suspects, even though they had no intention of burning forests or land.

Criminal law observer Masykur Isnan believes that it should be further studied whether the six other people who have mandatory reporting status could also be suspects.

“It would not be appropriate if only WO were named as suspects. There should be an inclusion offense. This case should be studied further. Who initiated the use of the flare from. "It's too hasty to conclude that only WO is responsible," said Masykur Isnan to VOI.

A bride and groom couple having a pre-wedding photo session in the Mount Bromo area. (X/@infojateng)

The offense of participation (deelneming delichten) means the participation of one or more people when another person commits a criminal act. The offense of inclusion is regulated in Article 55 and Article 56 of the Criminal Code. Looking at the video that went viral on social media, there is a criminal law regarding the offense of inclusion, it is very possible that there will be new suspects considering that developments in the case investigation are still ongoing.

The form of inclusion offense itself is divided into two parts. The first is called the maker which consists of the actor (pleger), the person who orders it (doenpleger), the person who participates (madepleger) and the proponent (uitlokker). The second is the assistants which consist of the assistants when the crime is committed and the assistants before the crime is committed.

Suspects in the Mount Bromo fire case face a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a fine of up to IDR 5 billion if proven to have deliberately set the fire. This is in accordance with Article 78 paragraph (3) Jo. Article 50 paragraph (3) letter d Law No. 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry, forest burning carried out intentionally is punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of 15 (fifteen) years and a maximum fine of IDR 5,000,000,000.00 (five billion rupiah).

Meanwhile, if forest burning is carried out due to negligence, the criminal threat is in accordance with Article 78 paragraph (4) Jo. Article 50 paragraph (3) letter d Law No. 41 of 1999 concerning Forestry carries a maximum prison sentence of 5 (five) years and a maximum fine of IDR 1,500,000,000.00 (one billion five hundred million rupiah).

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari said that fines for forest and land fire perpetrators in the Mount Bromo area were not commensurate with the operational costs of the water bombing helicopters used to extinguish the fire.

“I will only talk about IDR 1.5 billion. The operational cost of water bombing for one hour is more than IDR 200 million and has not been completed at this time, perhaps (still) less. "As we saw on Mount Arjuna, the water bombing operation lasted more than four days," said Abdul, quoted from Antara.