Volunteer teams from the Green Kalimantan Orangutan Foundation (YOHK)\nand the Indonesian Tourist Guides Association (HPI), who had been\ntackling forest and land fires in Tanjung Puting National Park (TNTP) in\nWest Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, have decided to withdraw all\ntheir members from firefighting operations on the ground.<\/p>\n
Moncos, a representative of YOHK-HPI in West Kotawaringin, said the\ngroup was pulling out because it felt its efforts had not been matched\nby adequate support. He made the statement in a video that went viral on\nsocial media.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now, I\u2019m withdrawing because there\u2019s no point continuing if\nnothing changes significantly,\u201d Moncos told detikKalimantan when\ncontacted on Sunday (11 October).<\/p>\n
The volunteers decided to pull out their personnel after agreeing to\ntemporarily suspend firefighting operations in the field.<\/p>\n
They said their efforts had not produced significant results, while\ntheir capacity to fight the fires had reached its limit.<\/p>\n
Moncos said the decision to withdraw also stemmed from volunteers\u2019\ndisappointment at the lack of attention from the government. They hope\nthe government will take the fires more seriously in an area that is\norangutan habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the volunteers, temporarily stopping firefighting does not mean\nthe threat has passed. They are instead asking the government to take\nconcrete action promptly so that efforts to control the fires can\nresume, with equipment and strategies suited to conditions on the\nground,\u201d Moncos said.<\/p>\n
Volunteers are now primarily urging the government to deploy\nwater-bombing aircraft to speed up firefighting in TNTP.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven so, operational needs, the condition of the fire hotspots and\nthe readiness of aerial support must be assessed by the relevant\nauthorities to ensure the response is appropriate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Moncos added that the most urgently needed support was aerial\nfirefighting, or water bombing. This would help reach fires in the\nforest\u2019s core zone, particularly those that volunteers find difficult to\ncontrol.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re only asking for water bombing to help put out the fires in the\ncore zone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Moncos said the team had done all it could but was constrained by its\nlimited capacity and support. That was why it was asking the government\nto take stronger action against the fires.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done everything we can, right up to the limit of our\nabilities. That\u2019s why we\u2019re asking the government to send water-bombing\naircraft as soon as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The area affected by the fires is estimated at about 54,000 hectares.\nHowever, the figure is only an estimate and has not been confirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy information is that it\u2019s around 54,000 hectares; it could be less\nor more, as that\u2019s only an estimate,\u201d Moncos said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/overwhelmed-and-lacking-support-tanjung-puting-firefighting-volunteers-withdraw-1791780750", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }