Coordinating Minister Pratikno Denies Resignation Rumours Amid Bromo Fire Duties

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno has denied rumours suggesting he submitted his resignation from the Red and White Cabinet due to health reasons. When contacted by journalists in Jakarta on Tuesday, Pratikno explained that he was currently in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area, specifically at a site affected by forest and land fires on Mount Bromo, East Java. “No, I am not sick, and I am not resigning. I am currently on duty,” Pratikno said in response to reporters’ questions. The Coordinating Minister explained that he flew to Malang at around 06:30 WIB and then continued his journey by land to the fire-affected area in Bromo. “We held a coordination meeting to accelerate the extinguishing of the fires in Bromo. There were 36 fire hotspots at the peak. As of now, there are still two active hotspots, so we are maintaining assistance with water bombing from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency,” Pratikno said, describing his day’s activities. He added that the government is also working to anticipate the fires spreading to other forest areas. “We also coordinated with the Regional Military Command to anticipate fire-prone locations. We went deep into Bromo, taking a hardtop vehicle right to the location near the fire,” he said. When asked about weather modification operations to assist in extinguishing the Bromo fires, Pratikno explained that the operation could not be carried out yet because there are no clouds over the location. “The problem in Bromo is that weather modification operations cannot proceed temporarily because there are no clouds. We estimate, according to the forecast, that clouds suitable for the operation will appear in four days,” Pratikno said. On a separate occasion, State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi also refuted the rumours that Coordinating Minister Pratikno had asked to resign due to illness. Prasetyo asserted that Pratikno is in good health. “He is healthy, as far as I know he is healthy. There is no news that he is sick, let alone resigning. He is not even sick,” Prasetyo Hadi told reporters.