President Prabowo Subianto said he had sought input from professors\nand experts to address the increasingly alarming forest and land fires\nin several parts of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He made the remarks during a limited meeting on forest and land fires\nheld in a hybrid format at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday, 12\nOctober 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the smoke problem [caused by the fires], we will ask our\nprofessors for their input on what to do,\u201d Prabowo said, as quoted on\nTuesday, 13 October 2026.<\/p>\n
The President said he had discussed the fires when he invited experts\nand specialists. He acknowledged that one of the simplest ways to\nextinguish them was to bring on rain.<\/p>\n
However, Prabowo said he wanted to prioritise prevention to ensure\nthe problem did not recur.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is true that, in the end, all you need is rain \u2014 water.\nBut, based on the strategy we discussed when I gathered experts from\nuniversities, professors and specialists from the regions themselves,\nthe main steps will be precise prevention and mitigation at the lowest\nlevel, in the villages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The government is not yet planning to designate the forest and land\nfires as a national disaster. Coordinating Minister for Political and\nSecurity Affairs Dudung Abdurachman said the government was still\ncapable of handling them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet, not yet. We are still able to deal with them,\u201d Dudung said\nat the Presidential Palace complex on Monday, 12 October 2026.<\/p>\n
Asked about assistance from other countries, Dudung said the matter\nhad not been discussed with President Prabowo.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet. It wasn\u2019t discussed earlier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The former Army chief said the government was committed to resolving\nthe fires as quickly as possible, adding that Prabowo was giving the\nissue serious attention.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prabowo-seeks-input-from-professors-and-experts-to-tackle-forest-and-land-fires-1791881528", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }