BNPB Still Assessing Needs for Assistance in Forest and Land Firefighting

Jakarta (ANTARA) — The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is assessing what support it needs to fight forest and land fires that other countries could provide, its chief, Kristomei Sianturi, said.

Speaking after a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday evening, Kristomei said several countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, had been in contact about offering assistance with firefighting efforts.

“Several countries have made offers. We need time to take stock of what we need. If there are things we cannot do ourselves or equipment we do not have, we will ask them. That way, the assistance can be as effective and well-targeted as possible,” Kristomei said.

“But if we have it, why should we ask? For example, another country has offered a C-130 Hercules aircraft, but we have one too, so it would not be effective to use theirs. Why should we borrow it?” he added.

Asked how long the assessment would take, the BNPB chief said the process would be carried out as quickly as possible to bolster firefighting efforts at a number of locations.

The government aims to extinguish the fires as soon as possible, he said, and is using several innovations, including dry ice and a specialised liquid, to help fight them.

Dry ice is being used in weather-modification operations, primarily to disperse smoke from the fires. Meanwhile, Realiza Anti Chamas, a liquid from Brazil, has been tested in Banyuasin, South Sumatra. The material is a powder dissolved in water and sprayed on fires to help prevent them from spreading.