Government Accelerates Forest Fire Suppression in Bromo

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Pratikno has stated that the government is continuing to accelerate the handling of forest and land fires (Karhutla) in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) area.

Pratikno, who inspected and directly led the coordination meeting on the Bromo fire handling, said that the extinguishing efforts carried out by the joint team have shown very significant results. From a previous total of 34 hotspots, only two fire points now remain as the main focus of extinguishing operations.

“There are indeed still two fire points that must be extinguished immediately. Previously it had reached 34 points, now only two fire points remain, as we can see behind us,” said Pratikno in his statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The presence of the Coordinating Minister at the location is a direct follow-up to President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to ensure that fire disasters in Bromo and other areas 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 is for the extinguishing to be carried out as quickly as possible,” said Pratikno.

He explained that the government is not only focusing on manual extinguishing on the ground, but is also preparing follow-up tactics. One of these is through the preparation of Weather Modification Technology (TMC) in cooperation with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

“BMKG and BNPB continue to detect cloud potential over the next few days. If the potential is sufficient, BNPB has prepared to carry out weather modification operations. So, we are not only extinguishing the remaining fires, but also wetting the area to prevent future fires,” said Pratikno.

On that occasion, the Coordinating Minister also reminded all regional heads in Indonesia of the importance of active participation, self-reliance, and preparedness, given the potential for wet and dry hydrometeorological disasters occurring simultaneously in various regions.

“Therefore, I hope that regional heads and regional leaders, the TNI and Polri, all move quickly to extinguish potential fires while also preventing disasters from an early stage,” he said.