Jambi forest fires under control, Prabowo urges continued prevention

President Prabowo Subianto has urged continued efforts to prevent forest and land fires (karhutla) in Jambi, even though the fire situation in the region is beginning to come under control.

“I thank the Jambi Forkopimda, maintain this, continue to carry out socialisation, education, prevention, and continue to monitor developments,” Prabowo said while monitoring karhutla handling via video conference from the Main Command Post of the South Sumatra Karhutla Task Force in Palembang on Monday.

In an official broadcast from the Presidential Secretariat monitored from Jakarta, Prabowo asked regional government officials to continue socialisation and education for the public as part of karhutla prevention efforts.

According to the President, karhutla handling needs to be carried out sustainably by continuously monitoring developments on the ground, even though conditions in Jambi have shown improvement.

During the video conference, Jambi Governor Al Haris reported to the President that the karhutla situation in his region was beginning to be controlled and that no new fires had occurred over the past several days.

The President also expressed appreciation to all personnel working in the field, at command posts, and at forward posts in handling karhutla.

“Convey my thanks to all officers in the field, everyone at the command posts, at the forward posts. We will strive to provide support for everyone on the front line,” the President said.

Prabowo then advised officials in Jambi to continue protecting their respective areas from the threat of karhutla amid unfavourable weather conditions.

“Protect your territory, protect your hometown. We will overcome this; indeed, the weather is temporarily unfriendly, but we can overcome it,” he said.

The President asked local officials to move quickly to handle hotspots in the area.