Forest fires spread, Central Papua wary of suspected planned burning
The Central Papua provincial government is on alert over indications of deliberately planned forest and land fires in several areas, as fires have increased simultaneously amid the impact of El Niño and drought.
Central Papua Governor Meki Nawipa in Nabire on Sunday said forest and land fires are a serious concern for the government, requiring joint handling through a task force (Satgas) and cross-sector coordination.
“This is not only happening in Central Papua, but also in Kalimantan, and there are indications it is structured. Apart from El Niño, there are also parties taking advantage of the situation to disrupt regional stability by burning forests,” Meki said at the Cross-Sector Coordination Meeting on the Impact of El Niño with eight regencies across Central Papua in Nabire.
He said the provincial government, together with eight regency governments, the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), and the community, need to unite their efforts to prevent the spread of fires and address their impact on the public.
According to him, the impact of El Niño not only increases the risk of fires but can also trigger other problems such as limited access to clean water, food, and public health, especially in mountainous areas.
Therefore, the Central Papua provincial government has asked regency governments to establish fire-handling task forces down to the village level and to report on their handling progress at the next cross-sector meeting on 26 August 2026.
The Central Papua provincial government is also preparing firefighting support through helicopters once the division of forest and land fire handling areas has been determined.
In the coordination meeting, the Central Papua provincial government also established a number of cross-sector support measures, including asking the Health Office to coordinate with the Mimika Regency government regarding medicine needs and asking the Social Office to assist with food support for communities affected by frost in Puncak Regency.
Nabire Regent Mesak Magai expressed a similar view at the meeting, saying fires occurred in several locations simultaneously, including along the Trans West Papua road, in oil palm plantation areas, and in a number of districts in urban Nabire.
“Makimi District, Teluk Kimi District, Nabire District, West Nabire District, and Wanggar District — fires broke out everywhere at the same time,” he said.
Mesak said the situation raises suspicions of deliberate burning activities carried out by certain groups.
His office even found through closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings that there are individuals who deliberately attempted to burn forests even in the middle of Nabire city.
In addition, fires also occurred in the Weiland Mountain area bordering Dogiyai Regency. The fires in that area have been burning for two nights and are located in areas difficult for the public to reach.
Furthermore, burning also occurred along the Nabire road heading to Dogiyai, Paniai, and Deiyai, from the Topo area to the regency border.
The Nabire regency government is also currently anticipating the impact of drought on the availability of clean water while strengthening coordination in handling fires in affected areas.