Fasting Period to Eid, 60 Hectares of Land in Bangka Burned

Throughout the fasting period up to Eid al-Fitr, the extent of forest and land fires (karhutla) in Bangka Regency reached 60 hectares. The frequent occurrence of these karhutla incidents has kept firefighters from the Firefighting Division of the Bangka Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) almost daily engaged in extinguishing the flames. This was directly revealed by the Acting Head of Bangka Regency Satpol PP, Achmad Suherman. According to him, the average area of karhutla that ravaged land in Bangka ranges from 1 hectare to 4 hectares. “For the fires, especially in Sungailiat and the East Trans route area, it happens almost every day, from the fasting month until now,” said Achmad Suherman on Friday (27/3/2026). He noted that recently, karhutla incidents have been increasing. There were even days with 7-8 reports of karhutla. According to him, these karhutla events sometimes occur due to certain community members carelessly throwing cigarette butts onto dry, easily ignitable land, or those clearing land by burning and recklessly burning rubbish. For this reason, his side has urged the public that there are severe threats for perpetrators causing karhutla, with criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison. “We are now on high alert for fires. Because just last night there were three fire points. And we have now entered the dry season for the next few months with rare rain,” he stated. Furthermore, from Ramadan to post-Eid now, his side has recorded that approximately 60 hectares of land have burned. “Imagine, in one day there can be 2-3 fire reports. About 60 hectares have burned up to after this Eid,” he added. Therefore, he also asked village officials to actively help extinguish fires if karhutla occurs. This is because Bangka Regency’s Fire Department has limitations in terms of fleet. “Fortunately, we are sometimes assisted by PT Timah’s Fire Department, Brimob, and others. And the entire community is concerned about this,” he said.