President Prabowo Subianto has stated that the forest and land fire\nsituation in South Sumatra is currently under control, although the\nproblem of smoke remains a concern.<\/p>\n
This was conveyed by Prabowo while leading a coordination meeting on\nforest fire handling at the command post in Palembang, South Sumatra, on\nMonday (24\/8\/2026).<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Sumatra is in a controlled state, it is just the problem of\nsmoke, because earlier the position was at its lowest,\u201d said Prabowo,\nafter hearing reports from regional officials.<\/p>\n
Prabowo also questioned the steps being taken by the National\nDisaster Management Agency (BNPB) to deal with the smoke problem that is\nstill emerging in several areas of South Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes the BNPB have no efforts to eliminate the smoke, whether it can\nbe done with aircraft or how?\u201d asked Prabowo.<\/p>\n
Expert Staff to the Head of BNPB, Brigadier General (Ret.) TNI\nBambang Eko Pratolo, explained that forest fire handling has so far been\ncarried out using two main methods, namely weather modification\noperations and water bombing.<\/p>\n
In addition to air operations, the BNPB has also deployed ground\nunits to handle fire spots that are difficult to reach, especially\nlocations that do not have adequate water sources.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many areas, fire spots that do not support water sources, we\ncoordinate with the Ground Task Force to resolve them,\u201d said Bambang\nEko.<\/p>\n
Upon hearing this explanation, Prabowo requested that locations that\nhave difficulty obtaining water be assisted with the construction of\nboreholes.<\/p>\n
199 Hectares Still Burning in South Sumatra<\/p>\n
On this occasion, Army Chief of Staff Maruli Simanjuntak reported to\nthe president that the area of land still burning in South Sumatra is\nonly 199 hectares.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the data that was conveyed earlier, it is now even better here,\nactually the burning area is 199 hectares,\u201d said Maruli.<\/p>\n
In response, Prabowo decided not to provide additional helicopters.\nHe asked the forest fire task force team to maximise existing facilities\nto extinguish the fires that are occurring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Army Chief of Staff, meaning Mr Yusuf should hold off on\nthe additional helicopters for now, and the air task force should carry\nit out, deploy the pilots, they are asked to \u2026 be careful, but this. I\nthink 200 (199) hectares can be closed in the near future, and later all\nteams including prevention, the regional military commander, the\nregional police chief, patrols,\u201d said Prabowo.<\/p>\n
Previously, the Head of the South Sumatra Regional Disaster\nManagement Agency, Iqbal Alisyahbana, reported on the forest fire\nconditions in South Sumatra during his presentation. The number of\nhotspots reached 12,956, including in Ogan Komering Ilir Regency with\n2,435 points, Musi Banyuasin with 2,139 points, and Muara Enim with\n1,909 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of hotspots has increased significantly this August,\nwhere in July there were 2,096 hotspots, increasing up to the 23rd to\n8,044 hotspots occurring in South Sumatra,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The total area of land burned in South Sumatra up to 23 August 2026\nreached 1,926 hectares. This area places South Sumatra in 18th position\nout of 36 provinces in Indonesia, with a total recapitulation of forest\nfires reaching 1,723 incidents.<\/p>\n
Regarding the air pollution index in Palembang City, it falls into\nthe very unhealthy category, as do nine other cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly two cities are still in the good category, namely Musi Rawas\nand Musi Selatan,\u201d he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prabowo-says-south-sumatra-forest-fires-under-control-1787565124", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }