President Prabowo Subianto has said he once lived in East Nusa\nTenggara (NTT) during his youth. He remarked that people in NTT not\ninfrequently clear land by burning forests.<\/p>\n
He made the comments while chairing a coordination meeting on\nearthquake response held in Nagekeo, NTT, on Wednesday (26\/8\/2026).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem here is that the trees have been greatly reduced. If I\nam not mistaken, for a long time now, the people here have also burned\nforests a lot, right? Is that correct? Yes, I remember it well, I know\nit,\u201d Prabowo said.<\/p>\n
Prabowo revealed that he lived for a long time in NTT during his\nyouth. According to him, the problem needs to be addressed by educating\nthe people so that forest fires can be avoided.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was young, I also spent a long time in these areas. That is\nthe problem. So our people must be given education. Clearing land must\nnot be done by burning. But all right, that is indeed a problem. This\narea used to be dense with forest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Still in the meeting, he again raised the issue that land burning in\nNTT is also carried out for hunting purposes. NTT Governor Melkiades\nLaka Lena, who was present at the meeting, confirmed Prabowo\u2019s\nstatement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo thank you for your input, and in turn I would also like to convey\nsomething. Because as I said earlier, I also know the local cultures\nhere. Clearing land, they burn. Sometimes for hunting, they burn. Is\nthat true? Correct?\u201d Prabowo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue, true,\u201d Melki replied.<\/p>\n
Prabowo stressed that his administration will change this. He also\nbrought up NTT\u2019s reputation for its abundance of sandalwood trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, it is fine, we will change this, we are brave enough.\nThis is the most famous region \u2014 sandalwood comes from here. Is that\nright? The whole world seeks sandalwood. This region is highly\npromising; Indonesia\u2019s regions are highly promising,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is known that Prabowo visited Nagekeo, NTT, to inspect the\nearthquake response today. Officials in attendance included Home Affairs\nMinister Tito Karnavian, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil\nLahadalia, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Deputy TNI Commander General\nTandyo Budi Revita, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo,\nand Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Lieutenant\nGeneral Suharyanto.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prabowo-in-ntt-is-it-true-that-people-here-often-burn-forests-1787739763", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }