Government halts land burning based on local wisdom during El Nino
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has suspended the practice of land burning based on local wisdom during the prolonged dry season and El Nino, as an effort to prevent an increase in forest and land fires, known as karhutla.
National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the suspension was imposed because the extreme prolonged dry season increases the risk of fires, meaning local rules on land clearing by burning cannot be applied.
“Because we are currently entering an extreme prolonged dry season, the El Nino, the application of forest burning based on local wisdom is abolished,” Sigit said at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.
He explained that under normal conditions, the practice of land clearing based on local wisdom carries a number of requirements, including reporting to the village head and providing firebreaks to prevent the fire from spreading.
However, those requirements are not being applied during the current extreme prolonged dry season.
“However, that local wisdom has rules, and especially during a prolonged dry season like this, those local rules must not be applied,” he said.
Sigit said the government, together with the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), regional governments, and relevant agencies, is strengthening preventive and pre-emptive measures through educating the public on land clearing regulations.
These efforts are being made to prevent fires from the land clearing stage onwards, whilst ensuring the public understands the legal consequences should the prohibition be violated.
According to the National Police Chief, violations of karhutla provisions may be subject to criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Political and Legal Affairs Djamari Chaniago affirmed that the government is tightening enforcement of regulations to prevent an increase in forest and land fires amid the ongoing El Nino conditions.
Djamari said the government does not want the currently relatively controlled karhutla situation to make all parties complacent, given that Indonesia has not yet reached the peak of El Nino.