Forest Fire Smoke Still Envelops West Kalimantan Despite Decrease in Hotspots
The Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, stated that the condition of forest and land fires (karhutla) in the West Kalimantan region requires serious attention. He noted that although the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan has experienced a decline, the issue of smoke resulting from these fires continues to envelop the region.
Raja Juli made these remarks after personally inspecting one of the fire sites in Kuala Dua Village, Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan, on Thursday (3/9). “I want to say that the condition in West Kalimantan is not okay. The numbers, once again, the numbers are decreasing, the number of hotspots is lower than previous days, but the smoke is very, very, very bad,” Raja Juli said in his statement on Friday (4/9).
Based on data from the Ministry of Forestry’s Sipongi system, the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan has actually seen a reduction. On 31 August, 272 hotspots were recorded, which then increased to 859 on 1 September, before dropping back to 268 points on 2 September.
However, Raja Juli emphasised that a decrease in hotspots does not automatically mean the smoke problem has been resolved. He explained that fires that have been extinguished are no longer detected as hotspots in the Sipongi system, but smoke can still persist.
“The fire is out and is not read as a hotspot in Sipongi, but that does not mean there is no smoke. You can see for yourselves, there are no longer hotspots here, but the smoke continues to exist,” he said.
Raja Juli noted that this condition is also evident in the air quality in Pontianak, which remains smoky. Therefore, in addition to ensuring the number of hotspots decreases, field operations must be accompanied by massive cooling efforts.
“Our colleagues from Manggala Agni, the Ministry of Forestry, the TNI-Polri, and the BPBD are all struggling to ensure that the hotspots decrease. However, at the same time, there must be a massive movement to carry out cooling operations. This cooling process is currently underway,” he added.