Jakarta (ANTARA) -
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has intensified coordination and firefighting operations in Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan, to accelerate efforts to extinguish forest and land fires.
The operation is being led by BNPB Head Kristomei Sianturi and Army Chief of Staff General Tandyo Budi Revita.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sianturi emphasized that tackling forest and land fires requires an integrated response involving all relevant parties, including the central and regional governments, the military, the police, and technical agencies, to ensure effective and targeted action.
“Mitigating forest and land fires requires collaboration and strong coordination among all parties. We aim to ensure that every measure is implemented in an integrated manner, based on actual conditions on the ground and supported by accurate data and information,” he said.
He stressed that the immediate priority was to contain the fires as quickly as possible and ensure that the central government could promptly provide logistical support if regional authorities encountered difficulties.
The emergency response mission began with the delegation's departure from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta aboard an Indonesian Air Force aircraft bound for Syamsudin Noor Air Force Base in Banjarmasin. The delegation then continued by road to Pulang Pisau.
BNPB's Operations Control Directorate reported that, as of October 13, firefighting operations had covered 7.8 hectares of peatland and 513.89 hectares of mineral soil areas in Central Kalimantan. The mineral soil areas included parts of Tanjung Puting National Park in West Kotawaringin and Seruyan districts.
Newly detected fires were extinguished at an average daily rate of more than 80 percent of the total area burned each day. To support the response, BNPB is optimizing aerial water-bombing operations and weather modification efforts.
The operation also involves thousands of personnel and dozens of major vehicles. In Central Kalimantan, the air task force conducted six water-bombing sorties and two weather modification sorties.
On average, a helicopter deployed for water-bombing operations can extinguish fires across three to five hectares.
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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