Government Accelerates Forest Fire Suppression in Bromo

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno stated that the government is accelerating the handling of forest and land fires in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area. Pratikno, who inspected and directly led a coordination meeting on the Bromo fire response, said that the suppression efforts by the joint task force have yielded very significant results. From a previous total of 34 hotspots, only two fire spots remain as the main focus of extinguishing operations. “Indeed, there are still two fire spots that must be extinguished immediately. Previously there were 34 points, now only two fire spots remain, as we can see behind us,” Pratikno said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday. The presence of the Coordinating Minister at the location was a direct follow-up to President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to ensure that fire disasters in Bromo and other regions are handled quickly so that the ecosystem and community activities can recover immediately. “President Prabowo Subianto is paying very serious attention to the fires in Bromo and other areas. Therefore, we all must work hard. The target time for extinguishing must be as soon as possible,” said Pratikno. He explained that the government is not only focusing on manual firefighting on the ground but is also preparing advanced tactics. One of these involves preparing Weather Modification Technology in cooperation with the National Disaster Management Agency. “The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency and the National Disaster Management Agency continue to detect cloud potential in the coming days. If the potential is sufficient, the National Disaster Management Agency has prepared to conduct weather modification operations. So, we are not only extinguishing the remaining fires but also wetting the area to prevent subsequent fires,” said Pratikno. On the occasion, the Coordinating Minister also reminded all regional heads in Indonesia of the importance of active roles, self-reliance, and preparedness, considering the potential for wet and dry hydrometeorological disasters occurring simultaneously in various regions. “Therefore, I hope that regional heads and regional leaders, the Indonesian National Armed Forces and the National Police, all move quickly to extinguish potential fires while preventing disasters from an early stage,” he said.